Whispers
by Tao-Senpai
Summary: Hinata has failed one too many times and Hiashi is sick of his defective daughter. After being disowned Hinata is thrown out into the real world, who will pick up the pieces of the unwanted? HinataxKiba R&R Hiatus
1. Disowned

Whispers

Hinata was dead. Not literally but figuratively as she meandered her way to the Hyuuga compound. Her last mission had been an epic failure, only to add to her streak of 13 disastrously failed missions since she had been promoted to jounin status. She picked idly at the bandages that poked out from under her thin coat as the cold late November wind blew threw her stealing her breath.

There was a storm brewing as the sky darkened and the wind picked up so it was positively howling as people closed their shops for the night and people extinguished their lights to get ready for sleep.

Father was going to be furious. He had actually hit her last time when she had come home after a failed mission to wave where she had the tar beaten out of her and one of her teammates had been killed. She was failing as a shinobi, failed missions meant no income and that definitely did not sit well with Hiashi one bit.

Bundling her coat around her still sore and tired body she slid between the gates and stared up at the dark foreboding structure that seemed to loom and mock her as she swallowed her fear, as much as she could and pressed on into the house.

The wind moaned around the house making the darkened hallways seem endless and gaping like the mouth of a giant serpent. Hiashi had always liked to conserve money so most evenings the lights were turned off and traditional oil lamps were used. Hiashi liked tradition.

Hinata kept her shaky pace as she saw the soft glow of her father's study. She could hear the clink of glass on wood as she realized he had been drinking and winced. This was not going to be pretty as she reached for the shoji door. Her hand froze with fear and shook. She couldn't do it, she couldn't face her father with the truth of another failed mission.

She could see the flicker of the lamp just beyond the door. A light should mean warmth, comfort and love. But for her it meant another lecture and more rigorous training.

'Hinata get in here' Hiashi's voice was cold as she swallowed most of her fear and slid the door open. Inside her father sat at his wooden desk as she quickly crossed the room and sat on her knees bowing before the head of the Hyuuga household.

'g-g-good evening f-f-ather' she stuttered managing to get out the greeting as Hiashi gave a 'hunh' before taking another swig of clear liquid before pouring himself another cup.

'Another failed mission' he was blunt and to the point as Hinata kept her gaze fixed in her knees. If she looked at him she'd crumple and start crying at his harsh gaze.

'y-yes f-f-ather' she answered as he gave a humourless chuckle.

'This is your thirteenth failed mission as a jounin Hinata' he said icily as she flinched. Here came the screaming as she waited. Hiashi shifted in the desk eyeing his eldest daughter. He was sickened by her, so much like her mother, it was painful to see her everyday and watch her fail just like her mother had at living as a Hyuuga. He rubbed his forehead as he looked at the quaking girl before her.

'You are a disgrace to this family. I have given you everything! Training, lessons, the best education, the best weapons but no, you still cannot possibly achieve a simple mission of taking a document to a foreign country Hinata.' He spat as she focused on her knees. So much for a loving family, if she had been a boy then maybe just maybe her father would've accepted her like he did Neji but no she was cursed with two X chromosomes. Hiashi glared at his daughter. Weak, submissive, timid. Exactly the opposite of a Hyuuga. He had wasted enough time with her and trying to coax her along to be the head. Hinabi was more suited for the job.

'I-I'm sorry father… I-I'll do better next time!' she said as Hiashi froze. Hinata looked up as Hiashi burst out with cold laughter. It made the hairs on the back of her neck rise as he glared at her. Even though he was her father she swore that there was none of his personality in her as he shifted moods like a cobra strikes.

'Oh I don't care Hinata, you always say 'I'll do better next time' but I've had enough. I am disowning you Hinata. You've had too many chances to prove your worth to this household, I see nothing of a Hyuuga shinobi.' He snapped as Hinata froze. Disowned? He was disowning her? Kicking her to the curb because she wasn't efficient? She was frozen to the spot at hurt bubbled in her chest threatening to make her pass out as Hiashi's mood shifted again. 'Why are you still sitting there. I said you are no longer a part of this family now GET OUT!' he roared as Hinata jumped to her feet adrenaline now pumping as Hiashi was also on his feet. 'GET OUT!' he roared as he threw the cup with deadly accuracy.

Hinata dodged as the cup hit her shoulder and fragmented shards of glass sticking into her shoulder as she gasped in pain from the alcohol that made the cuts burn.

'GET OUT!' he roared grabbing his chair as Hinata ran. The halls flew past as she twisted down the maze of hallways and corridors to her room. Slamming it behind her she locked it and grabbed her mission pack. Hiashi wanted her gone, she had no problem with that. She stuffed her clothes, weapons, bedding, and survival gear into her pack. She cleaned out her room as she heard her father's drunken approach as he cursed and slammed a shoulder into a wall.

Hinata looked up as she shoved her journal and a few pens into her pack as the door rattled.

'HINATA! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!' he roared as Hinata grabbed her bathroom gear and shoved it in her pack as well. She could still hear the cursing as she slung her pack over her shoulder and opened the window. The stormy winds gusted in freezing her to the bone instantly as the window was wrenched from her grip by the gust. At the same moment the door splintered as she looked to see her father glaring at her. In that moment she jumped. Two stories she fell landing in a roll as she took off over the compound wall.

The wind was howling as she ran. She had no idea where she was going adrenaline pushed her as the wind howled pursuing her like a pack of wild dogs as she ran through the abandoned streets of town. She had to find shelter, somewhere to stay for the night. She knew she couldn't impose on any of her friends, no matter how kind they were she was not that kind of person as she looked up to find herself at her team's favorite training ground.

It was well sheltered by massive old growth pines that moaned and bent in the gale force winds as she hid underneath one of the ruffs of the pines. She was protected more from the wind that anywhere else as she pulled out a tarp that had been in her bag for ages and managed to make a tent like structure. Snow was falling now as she wrapped herself in her stolen blankets and as much clothing as she could wear before leaning against the trunk of the tree.

The wind howled around her as the forest moan and groaned under its heavy hand. Pulling her knees to her chest Hinata realized how stuck she was. She didn't know the first thing about getting an apartment or housing everything had been looked after by the household. She had about 30 ryou to her name, she was out in one of the worst storms of Konoha's history and she was homeless, nameless, unwanted and alone.

Tears came to her pale eyes as she sobbed. Life was so hard sometimes and it seemed it always dealt her an odd hand. At least the one good thing was that her father hadn't curse sealed her and since she was officially disowned and an adult she was untouchable.

It was so cold as she huddled in her makeshift shelter trying to conserve heat by keeping her chakra moving evenly around her body. Branches snapped and twisted off making loud dying screams of tree branches scraping against one another as she wished she was anywhere but where she was. She may have been a shinobi but even shinobi shouldn't be out in this as another wave of tears came. She really was pathetic, no wonder her father didn't want her. The night seemed to last forever, cold seeping into every pore in her body as she tried to keep herself warm. This was hell, not burning to death but freezing to death slowly.

The storm didn't blow itself out as soon the endless darkness turned to gray then pink and eventually the sun came up. The wind was still howling but some of the cold had been taken out of the night as she poked her head out of her makeshift shelter. The snow was blindingly white and it stung her eyes as all she wanted to do was sleep. But she couldn't. If she fell asleep then she would surely die of hypothermia in this weather.

Getting to her feet and did up her winter coat and grabbed the 30 Ryou she had and made for the grocery store. Her feet were cold, stiff and sore and her hands refused to work properly. She probably had frostbite as she noticed shinobi hurrying about dressed in their winter gear grabbing groceries and running to each others homes. She passed Kakashi and his new wife who was very pregnant as he ushered her past giving Hinata a huge smile.

At least there was happiness in this world as Hinata pushed open the door to the store. Instantly she was blessed with the warmth of the store as she wandered the aisles just warming up before pricing out food. She gathered a great deal of high energy foods and paid for them and headed back to her tent.

'HEY HINATA-CHAN!' she froze as she heard Kiba's voice and turned around to see the exuberant young man on Akamaru as Shino and Naruto trailed along. All were hunched against the fierce wind and blowing snow as she gave them a smile.

'h-hello' she said as Naruto beamed at her. He was now the sixth Hokage after Tsunade had passed on after defeating Orochimaru and destroying half of the city in the process.

'Hey we were going to go train, want to come?' Naruto asked as she grinned and nodded.

'I-I just have t-t-to drop these off okay?' she stuttered as they nodded. She had forgotten about their training that morning. Boys were all the same, they had to get stronger. The thought depressed her. No matter how much training she seemed to do she was still a failure as she doubled around to her little shelter.

It was well hidden and away from prying eyes as she heard a buzz. Looking to her right she noticed one of Shino's Kikai bugs and cursed. Of course Shino would notice if anything was even slightly amiss from her, he seemed to know everything and keep tabs on everyone. It was rather frightening. She made a grab for the little insect as it easily avoided her and escaped.

She managed to scarf down two granola bars and an energy bar before taking off toward the training ground. She hoped Shino wouldn't say anything to the others. She was pathetic enough as it was, she did not need their help, if she was going to be her own person (or at least try) then she did not need help from them.

She cleared the last few pines as Kiba's loud rough voice caught her attention. The Inuzuka had always been a little rough around the edges but he meant well and had always seemed to care about her throughout their genin and chounin days. Now that they had become jounin they saw less of each other but were still good friends.

'-I don't know what Neji's problem is! The asshole wouldn't give me a straight answer!' he spat as she landed in the clearing. Shino turned to view the shy woman as he heard the buzz of one of his insects before it perched in his ear. She seemed particularly disheveled and tired today, not like the normal Hinata as Kiba seemed to pick up on it too.

'Good morning! S-sorry I was late. I f-forgot about our training today!' she gave a rather forced smile as Kiba raised an eyebrow. This was not like Hinata. Kiba looked at Shino who only gave a slight inclination of his head to indicate something was up. Akamaru barked as Kiba scratched the little dog's head reassuring him that nothing was wrong. Kiba turned back to Hinata with a smile.

'Eh, don't worry about it. This storm has thrown everyone off today' he smiled as Hinata relaxed a little as her shoulders dropped and she genuinely smiled.

'Shall we begin with weapons?' Shino asked as Hinata nodded. Kiba didn't care as they began their training in the slippery snow. Akamru barked and weaved between their legs occasionally dividing off to attack Shino as the bug boy easily deflected. More than once Hinata ended up sliding around and colliding into Kiba or Akamaru and knocking both of them into the fluffy substance as she gasped when the shocking cold met her flushed skin.

'Hinata are you distracted today It's not like you to fall so much' Kiba commented rubbing his head as Akamaru whined making sure his master was okay as she blushed. Her mind was elsewhere. She was trying to put together the pieces if Shino and Kiba had figured out something was wrong or if Shino knew what was wrong and just hadn't spoken up yet.

'I'm a little worried that this storm wont let up tonight' she admitted as Kiba nodded helping her up as her brushed himself off as Akamaru bounded away yapping merrily to snowplow his nose into the snow near Shino as he calmly watched his friends. He was trying to piece together Hinata from the information his Kikai had gathered.

'I can see why that would be of concern. Isn't the winter festival in a week?' Shino commented as Hinata blinked. She had completely forgotten about the festival. Ino would be so mad especially if she forgot she was supposed to help her set up the bouquets for the dinner arrangements for the Ichigo restaurant.

'Oh I completely forgot about that aren't you supposed to be helping Ino arrange flowers?' Kiba asked her as she gave a nod. She had a scapegoat for her behaviour but from the stance Shino was holding he didn't buy it. By now his Kikai would have told him all about her tent as Kiba suddenly pulled her in for one of his friendly hugs.

'Geeze you're cold as ice!' he laughed as she blushed and pushed her hair behind her ears.

'It is blowing snow out here Kiba' Shino stated bluntly as the Inuzuka shot him a dark look. Hinata giggled, these two were best friends and never had a problem of harassing the other as Akamaru growled at Shino in warning.

'I know that!' he snapped as Hinata put a gentle hand on his arm. She knew how hot tempered Kiba could be as Shino didn't say anything more and Kiba quieted down and Akamaru returned to his masters side dutifully.

'You should go see Ino.' Shino piped up as Kiba gave his friend a weird glance that Hinata missed because she was zipping her coat up as high as possible.

'Maybe' she said looking at her shoes as Kiba knew that look. Hinata was doubting herself again as he gave her a gentle punch on the shoulder. He hated when she did that, as a kunoichi she was rare one. Even at jounin status she still had compassion and love for others and hadn't been hardened by the assassinations and death she had to endure. She looked up at him as he grinned.

'Go show Ino that you can put her winter flower arranging to shame.' He said a small smile crossed her face. It made Kiba feel better as she nodded and started to walk away from the two boys.

'I will see you tomorrow!' she called and took off around a corner. Kiba put his hands in his pockets and walked over to where Shino was standing staring after the illusive Hyuuga.

'Something is up' Shino said as Kiba nodded. Hinata was not herself. She was more down, distracted, and her appearance was shocking compaired to her normal self. Her usual fire seemed to have been extinguished as the two jounin's shared a long look before Kiba stretched.

'Why do girls even have to learn about flower arranging anyway?' he asked as Shino shrugged and turned to head back toward Kiba's apartment to meet up with the other male members of the genin nine. Hinata's actions had Kiba feeling strange like he needed to go after her and demand to know what was making her upset so he could find the bastard and beat the shit out of them.

They rounded a corner to see Naruto and Shikamaru standing knee deep in the snow as the thought was put out of his head as he ran to catch up to bug boy.

Hinata was in a different situation. Ino was in an uproar because the shipment of flowers couldn't come through because of the storm. The blue bells were the main focus on the centre pieces and they needed to be delivered within the week.

'Ino, please calm down' Hinata begged as the blonde sat fuming in the back room as she kicked a bucket of long stemmed roses rather forcefully leaving a dent in the bucket.

'I cant BELIEVE they would do that!' she hissed as Hinata twirled a lock of holly between her fingers as Sakura was trying her best to calm down the furious blonde. Hinata didn't really care, she was just glad the shop was warm as her thoughts drifted to Shino and Kiba. Her stomach clenched, Kiba had gone to the compound looking for her. At the very least she was glad that Neji was the one who had caught him. She and Neji had come to an understanding after Naruto had left the second time to retrieve Sasuke. He had trained her to become a jounin and they had become… closer in a way. Not best friends but they didn't hate one another any more, they just simply were friends.

'DAMMIT!' A crash followed as Ino threw something. She had her father's temper that was for sure as Hinata reflected on her less that stellar performance at training in the snow. Even Kiba had noticed, but then again he picked up more on body language and shifts in scents than actual verbal expressions. He had known as soon as she had stepped into the clearing that something was up. She cursed how intelligent her teammates were without knowing it. Sometimes she wished they could be a blind as Naruto. Her heart twisted rather painfully as she caught sight of Sakura's left hand.

Yes Sakura was going to marry Naruto. She had given up a long time ago trying for Naruto's attention. It still upset her but as she moved on she had realized that Naruto really wasn't right for her but they were still as close as best friends could be. He even snuck her out of the compound some nights to go bar hopping with the rest of the jounin's and that was always a party.

Still it hurt knowing that even after all of this time Naruto had still never once taken an interest in her. But now she had bigger problems. Because of the heat she was getting sleepy and Shino knew where she was camping and Kiba knew she wasn't alright.

'Hinata are you sick?' Sakura's voice cut through her mulling as she glanced up to see the two girls looking at her.

'Uh- um n-no I-I'm just tired' she stuttered as Sakura sat beside her gently probing her with chakra as she gasped.

'Hinata you're exhausted did you not sleep at all last night?' she said as Hinata shook her head.

'The wind kept me awake' she whispered as Ino nodded. Everyone was on edge because of the storm it seemed as Sakura flopped back in her chair.

'Eh, it seems that everything has been thrown off because of this stupid storm. Even Neji has been acting weird he asked me where you were today Hinata' she said as Hinata paled. Neji was looking for her meant that he was concerned and would be arousing people's suspicion about the family.

'Oh, h-he probably wanted m-me for a f-f-family mission' she gritted out as sick as saying family made her feel. She no longer had a family, after her mother had passed on she hadn't had a family. She had had a hierarchy where she was the underdog of a soldier that couldn't keep it together and ended up being kicked out because of her uselessness.

Sakura watched the emotions flicker across Hinata's face. She seemed incredibly sad and hurt like she had finally given up at trying as the Hyuuga raised her pale eyes as Sakura smiled.

'How about we get some food? My treat' Sakura said as Hinata smiled shyly and nodded. Ino sighed and flipped her hair as the duo looked at her.

'We still have to get the basis of the bowls set up so when the bluebells do arrive we can just put them in.' she said as the other girls nodded and got to work arranging the fifty table arrangements according to Ino's design.

The time passed swiftly and before long the three girls relocated to Sakura tea house as Hinata was enjoying her warm Miso soup.

'So Sakura, when is the wedding going to be?' Ino asked as the pink haired kunoichi blushed hotly.

'Four months. I'm run rampant with work for this and Naruto isn't helping but I have good news. Ino, I want you to be my maid of honour.' She said as Ino squealed and grabbed her friend in a massive hug as Hinata smiled glad her two friends were so excited as she took another sip of her soup. 'And I want Hinata as one of my bridesmaids' sakura said as Hinata nearly choked looking up in alarm at their massive smiling faces. Ino laughed as gave her a swat.

'Don't look so shocked! There aren't many of us kunoichi and we're all good friends of course you were going to be a bridesmaid' Ino laughed as Hinata smiled.

'Okay' she said as Sakura enveloped her in a warm hug as she returned it. She was happy for Sakura she really was but a little phrase she had heard Chouji say years ago echoed back to her as she was sitting there embracing one of her closest friends.

_Poor Hinata, always the bridesmaid never the bride herself_

She closed her eyes against the tears that threatened to fall as Sakura pulled back and started talking excitedly about dresses, venues and invitations. Hinata finished her soup and took one of the mochi nibbling on it. She didn't want to return to her tent the storm was still raging and had picked up again since the sun had set and was now blowing gusts so hard that the windows rattled and a few signs had been blown off their hinges.

She could not sleep tonight.

'Sakura do you haven any soldier pills?' she asked quietly as both girls gave her a strange look.

'Why Hinata?' Ino asked as she looked at her shoes. She needed a lie, a good one, she thought for a minute as she felt the heat rise to her cheeks. How she hated how easily she blushed.

'I-I lost mine on-on my last m-mission' she bit out as she saw Sakura's eyes soften.

'No sorry I haven't made any in a few weeks. I can make you some tomorrow is that alright?' she asked as Hinata nodded. Tonight was going to be nearly unbearable as the girls prepared to leave.

'So we'll see you on Wednesday to pick out invitations right?' Sakura asked as Hinata nodded bundling herself up for the long trek back to her camp in the blizzard. They stepped outside as the force of the wind slammed into them. The cold snared around Hinata and knocked her breath out of her as she hunched against the blasts.

'Holy shit!' Ino cursed as they all waved and hunched over running to their respective homes leaving Hinata standing in the middle of the little road. She ducked as a sign shot past her nearly striking her in the shoulder as she turned and ran with the wind. If it hadn't been so deadly it would've been fun as the gusts pushed her along nearly lifting her off her feet as she slid around a corner to hear a crash where a window shutter had come loose and splintered on the side of the building.

This was bad. Very, very bad.

She was only a little ways away from the training ground as she heard someone call out to her. Turning she saw a shadow standing under a streetlamp. The snow obscured everything as the figure moved. It was Neji, he looked pissed off as he moved stiffly. Hinata did not want a confrontation with any of her family. Her banishment still felt raw and she felt unwanted. Neji may have not done anything but he looked too much like her father for comfort as she quickly made the seals for the transportation jutsu.

'HINATA!' he bellowed over the roar of the wind as she vanished just in time to avoid being hit was a large tree limb. Neji cursed and doubled back, he had to rally the others and get Hinata out of this storm. His cousin was being particularly stubborn which was unlike her as he stopped by the first apartment he could find.

Hinata gasped as she landed on her blankets with a thump as she quickly rolled herself in them. The far side of her tarp had been ripped and was now flailing uselessly. This was so bad, why was everything so against her? She closed her eyes and pulled her knees to her chest huddling against the trunk of the tree. It was so cold, she had stopped shivering a while ago which was not good and fatigue was setting in.

She was getting hypothermia as the winds roared in the forest around her threatening to crush her with her own beloved trees that nurtured Konoha. She hugged her knees to her chest was she this unwanted. Neji had come after her but she did not want her family's help. They wanted her gone then she was gone. There was no chance that she was going back. But she knew she needed help she had taken being stubborn too far.

Would anyone notice if she never showed up for training again? She knew people would miss her, her father wouldn't. He'd go to the funeral but not a tear would be shed for his useless heir. She was merely a tool for her father to command and since she was defective to his purpose she had been cast aside. That hurt to no end.

Unwanted. That's what she was. The wind howled as little whispers of snow seemed to enter ears and beg her to sleep. Sleep. It was so tempting. But she couldn't if she slept she would die.

The temperature was dropping with the wind and Hinata knew she was in trouble. She had to go find someone, get into a house where it was warm. She managed to get to her feet as a wave of vertigo washed over her. No no no! not now! She dropped to the ground as her world swam around her. Low blood sugar, she had used all of her energy to keep warm and was now paying the price. She needed to fight stay awake! Shino, Kurenai, Sakura, Ino, Naruto, Neji, Shikamaru, Chouji, TenTen, Lee….Kiba. She tried to hold on but she was sucked under but the darkness.

______________________________________________________

Alright this is a new fanfiction. If you want more review. I left it a cliff hanger for a reason. -evil grin-


	2. How the wind howls

Kiba was irritated. He wasn't one to show a strong range of emotions and when something bothered him in any form he became irritable. Shino and Chouji were battling each other on the ps2 at DDR and Shikamaru was having a beer on the couch as Akamaru was getting a belly rub from a laughing Naruto as the window hammered on the windows of his little apartment.

After becoming a jounin he had moved out from his watchful eye of his sister and mother to become his own man. Plus Tsume had hit menopause and there was not a chance in hell he was dealing with her like that.

"Kiba you seem tense what's up?' Naruto asked as he looked at the energetic blonde man as he shrugged.

'Hinata was acting really weirdly today. I think Hiashi hit her again' he muttered as Naruto nodded. They all knew that Hiashi was not a very affectionate or tolerant man. Naruto, now being the sixth hokage, had given him at least three separate warnings not to abuse anyone in his family otherwise he would be removed from Konoha completely.

Naruto frowned as Shikamaru looked over at the two.

'You know she was with Sakura and Ino earlier and from what I heard was that she went in a completely different direction from the compound' he said as Chouji hip checked Shino as the aburame stumbled loosing his 226 combo as he glared at the other jounin. Kiba laughed and looked back at Naruto.

'I haven't seen Hinata in like a week' The blonde said going to the fridge and grabbing a beer for himself and flopping down on the couch opposite Shikamaru. Akamaru had decided that he wanted to sleep as he jumped on his futon beside Kiba's bed that was visible from the couch as there was a loud banging on his front door.

The young men all looked at one another before Chouji left the game and opened the door.

'Hey Neji, what's up?' Chouji grinned as he looked at the older jounin's wet, disheveled frantic look.

'I need help' he said as suddenly everyone was at the door.

'What's wrong?' Naruto bellowed as Kiba smacked him on the head.

'Keep it down!' he hissed as Shino looked calmly over Chouji's shoulder. Neji looked frantic.

'Can I come in?' he asked as they moved into the living room as Shikamaru tossed a towel to the sodden Hyuuga. He dried himself off as Kiba tapped his foot impatiently. He didn't like Neji, never had but he dealt with him for Hinata's sake as the Hyuuga seemed to become a little more level.

'It's Hinata. You see, after her 13th failed mission Hiashi disowned her and threw her out. That was two days ago' he said as the room went dead silent. Red hot fury bubbled up in Kiba as before anyone knew he had slammed Neji against the wall holding him by his throat.

'You mean to tell me she's been out in this storm homeless for TWO DAYS?!' he bellowed as the Hyuuga gave him a hard look.

'Kiba, put him down' Naruto ordered as the Inuzuka dropped the smaller man as Neji straightened his clothes. Kiba did not like this. He was beyond angry but now concern was taking an edge and panic too. Hinata was out in the blizzard of the century alone and probably freezing to death. At the moment he cursed Hyuuga pride.

'Now, what we need to know is what happened exactly at the compound' Shikamaru said now serious as he joined the group. Neji had a slightly frantic look about him as he explained all of the events he had heard including Hinata's flight about ten minutes ago.

'We have to find her!' Kiba said as Akamaru was up once again as soon as his master had been distressed. Naruto nodded as Shino looked at the group. The Kikai knew where she had been hiding but the one who had reported to him had died of cold earlier from exposure. He hoped he could remember the directions.

'Shino do you have a tracker on her?' Kiba asked as he searched through the millions of chakra signals his bugs had collected to notice the one he had in Hinata was slowly flickering out.

'She's dying' he said as the room went deadly silent.

'WHAT?!' Kiba and Naruto roared as Shino looked up calmly at them.

'My Kikai is dying that means Hinata's body temperature is dropping dangerously' he said as before he could blink the two hot heads were gone.

'Dammit do they even know where they're going?!' Chouji snapped grabbing his winter coat and tossing Shikamaru and Shino theirs as he headed out the door. Akamaru had vanished with Kiba, Shino knew if anyone could find Hinata it would be him as he made the hand seals for the teleportation jutsu.

'Training ground 6' he said and vanished.

The snow was ridiculous as Kiba and Akamaru bounded over the drifts trying desperately to pick up any traces of Hinata's scent. He cursed the wind as he saw Shino standing near training ground 6 as he quickly ducked into the shelter of the massive pines.

'She's somewhere in here. My kikai just died we have to hurry' he said and vanished as Akamaru and Kiba split up each covering half of the training area. The wind and snow was horrendous as it roared and hissed through the trees. Kiba had to keep his arm up to deflect clawing branches as he heard a snapping noise. Turning to his left he heard it again. It sounded like a trap or canvas. Hinata. He ducked under numerous branches as a whiff of lilac and peach caught his nose. It was definitely Hinata as he noticed a little blue tarp that was ripped and whipping wildly in the wind.

He ran over, hoping that his childhood friend would be alright as he rounded the side of the shelter to see a figure sprawled on the floor of the shelter. Snow had blown in around her as his heart froze in his chest.

Hinata looked dead. Her lips were blue, her skin whiter than the snow around her and starting to take on a gray pallor as snow was nestled in her hair. Gently he reached over and leant his face against her cheek listening for breath or a pulse. He heard both as he quickly grabbed her up and howled.

Akamaru came bounding through the drifts echoing his master's call as Kiba used his teleportation jutsu to go back to his apartment. There was a crack as the jounin stood squarely in his living room with Hinata cradled against his chest as Shikamaru blinked at him. Kiba moved quickly setting her on the couch and removing her rapidly dampening clothing.

'WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!' Shikamaru snapped as Kiba gave him a blunt look.

'Removing her cold wet clothing she's hypothermic you dolt.' He said as Shikamaru shook himself and ran to get dry blankets as Naruto and the others burst back into the apartment.

'WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!' Naruto bellowed as Kiba growled and pulled off another two sodden layers of Hinata's clothing as Shikamaru returned with an electric blanket and a hot water bottle.

'She's hypothermic we need to get off her wet clothing and get her as warm as possible' Shikamaru explained as Kiba tossed a soaked sweater to the floor. After six layers he reached her icy but thankfully dry skin. She was down to a pair of tights and a tank top as Shikamaru tossed the now warm blanket to Kiba. He set it underneath her as Shino entered the room with six more hot water bottles.

'where did you get those?' Neji asked as the aburame simply set the bottles around Hinata's neck, armpits and groin before they wrapped her in about eight blankets. Kiba sat down on the end of the couch and let out a shaky breath as Naruto traced Hinata's cheek. Her skin was eerily icy and unnaturally pale as everyone in the room suddenly took a seat.

'We should get Sakura over here to check on her' Naruto stated as Shikamaru sighed.

'No one can get through the snowstorm. It's ludicrous.' He said simply as the wind howled more loudly to prove his point as there was a crash where something had smashed into the side of the building. Naruto frowned and looked at Kiba.

Kiba didn't know what to do. His mind was in a state of panic as a million scenario's and thoughts ran around chasing and smashing into one another. He was relieved that they had found Hinata. The only problem was could they save her. Hypothermia was a very serious condition and Hinata already had circulation problems to begin with. He put his head in his hands as Naruto sighed.

'I'm going to get Sakura' he said and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Kiba was thankful that Naruto was so adamant about things as he suddenly wondered why the hell he was so upset?

But he knew why. He had known why for a long time.

Since they had been put on the same team he had had a crush on the shy but compassionate Hyuuga. She had always seemed to stick out in his mind even though she had never seen him as more than a friend. She was obsessed with Naruto and that dolt never even saw it. He was too obsessed with the pink haired psycho. He had never liked Sakura she was stifling and abrasive even when she was trying to be sweet like when Sasuke was still around. It irritated him to no end.

He had watched Hinata grow up, been there for her as best he could when Naruto left without a goodbye. She had been devastated at first but soon grew from it. They became close friends. Then Naruto came back and she went right back to adoring him.

It sickened Kiba it really did. He looked at her pale visage and dark violet hair that looked almost black against her snow white skin. She really was stunning but she didn't know it. Hiashi had seen to that factor. How he hated that man. Making Hinata feel inadequate and kill her self esteem it had killed him when she had first talked to him about how she felt like she was disgusting. She had told him about how she was rounder than all of the other kunoichi and it made her feel like she was some freak because she wasn't ask skinny or pretty.

Personally Kiba liked her body compaired to the others. She wasn't as flat as a board or had to wear push up bras to make it look like she had boobs and she had hips that most girls would die to get. Kiba had wanted to shake her and tell her how beautiful she was when she had confessed to him. But he didn't telling her that she shouldn't hate herself and that the other girls should've been jealous of her and probably secretly were.

She looked so fragile, so breakable that it shocked him to his core. He hadn't realized how attached he was to the kunoichi. She was a permanent fixture in his life now like breathing. Hinata was always there, always around him.

There was a pop and bubblegum pink hair dove to where the frozen kunoichi was lying.

'Everyone out!' she commanded as there was a series of pops before everyone dispatched for the evening leaving Naruto, Sakura and Kiba in the little apartment. Kiba watched Sakura work as Naruto sighed and ran a hand through his disheveled hair before going and getting another beer out of the fridge. He tossed one to Kiba as he caught it but didn't bother to open it.

'She'll be fine. But since her hypothermia was so bad she might be in a coma. If she doesn't wake up in two or three days tell me and we'll get her to the hospital okay Kiba?' Sakura said as he jumped and looked at her. He nodded and looked at the pale girl. Some colour had come back to her cheeks as they were now a pale peach not white and her lips were pink instead of blue as it felt like a weight had been lifted form his chest.

But a coma was serious. It made him nervous but at the same time he was just glad she was alive as Sakura put a hand on his shoulder making him look up into her green eyes.

'She needs somewhere to stay since you know what happened with her family. Can she stay with you for the time being?' she asked as Kiba nodded mutely. He had a spare room that Shino sometimes stayed over or one of the guys if they were too plastered to go home or just felt like sleeping over randomly. Kiba's house was rather open as long as they weren't in his bed he was fine with it.

'Yea she can stay' he said as Sakura smiled and hugged him. He blushed a little, hugging another man's girl never sat well with him as he could always smell a trace of them on their skin. It made him feel odd even though most humans couldn't smell that at all as Naruto grinned.

'Yes Kiba, thanks I think you're the only person who has a spare room right now' he winked as Kiba wanted to smack him. He really found Naruto irritating. He really only kept him around because the others liked him and they had known each other for their entire lives.

'yea whatever' he said as the happy couple popped out of existence leaving the Inuzuka and the Hyuuga on the couch. Kiba sighed and ran a hand through his hair again making it stand on end as Akamaru gave a low whuff.

'You're right let's get some sleep' he nodded making sure Hinata was comfortable and not too warm before heading to his own bed. Akamaru took his futon as the wind howled and roared around the apartment complex. Kiba couldn't sleep. He lay there listening to the howls, bangs, crashes and groans of the storm around him. Hinata slept on as he checked her chakra flare a few times. It was there albeit it was on the diminished side as Akamaru snored and rolled over in his sleep.

Sleeping near Akamaru was relaxing as he closed his eyes. Maybe he could drift off just for a little while? Even a few hours would do him some good since he hadn't slept the night before because of the same nagging feeling he had had earlier before Hinata had been found. It was odd, it was almost like he was attuned to Hinata. He always found her presence relaxing and soothing. Having her on missions always seemed to allow him to concentrate to his fullest. Sadly Hinata never seemed to focus when it came to harsh conflict she always hesitated or froze. They Hyuuga fighting style was harsh to the body and she knew how dangerous it was.

Maybe that was why she refused to be a fighter. He rolled over to see the foot of the couch and the rise of layers of blankets where he knew she was sleeping. Shouldn't he be able to sleep if Hinata was right in the next room? He always slept better when on missions with her around especially when they all had to share a tent because Kurenai's had been burnt down in an attack.

It was because she was injured was why. He was concerned about her well being. He reasoned, she was his best friend he didn't want her to die on him because she was too stubborn to ask for help from them. The thought rather hurt. She was too proud to even come to him in her time of need. But then again this was Hinata she hated imposing on people or putting people out in any form even if she was hurt as a result.

He watched the mound of blankets shift as she breathed as he rolled over and closed his eyes. He needed to sleep as he started counting backward from 100 before long he was asleep as the storm raged over Konoha.


	3. Migraines

The next morning dawned cold, gray and sunny. The storm had blown itself out leaving high drifts of snow broken signs and branches lying in various places in the streets. The wind had died to nothing more than a cool breeze as Kiba's apartment was silent.

Not a soul was awake as the only noise heard was the ticking of the clock in the kitchen and Akamaru's snores as morning broke in the little apartment.

Hinata was blissfully warm. She didn't want to open her eyes or wake up to know what had happened after last night. Knowing her she was dead but this blissful warmth she wanted to stay wrapped in it for eternity. Sighing happily she snuggled deeper into the warmth it was like she was trapped in a little bubble that she never wanted to leave. She could ignore all of her problems, didn't have to deal with people,, she could float here peacefully forever.

But sadly, as is the world all good things must come to an end. In this case it happened to be a half asleep Kiba tripping over her still sodden clothing and tumbling over the arm of the couch to land on her.

'FUCK!' Kiba snapped as his head hit the arm of the couch. Hinata was startled awake as she saw tan skin and grey fabric and immediately pushed whoever was on her off and sat up. Vertigo washed over her as she put a hand to her forehead and lay back that had been a stupid idea.

'Holy shit you're alive!' Kiba's loud voice was right beside her as she turned to see the inuzuka's face right beside hers from the side of the couch. Wait a second, where was she and why was Kiba just lying on her? She blinked a few times as the rest of the room came into focus. She was in Kiba's new apartment as she noticed the stray clothes and beer bottles strewn around the room.

How had she ended up here? The last thing she remembered was being in her makeshift tent and the unbearable cold. She remembered needing to get somewhere warm to find someone to help her. The rest was blank.

Kiba was staring at Hinata. She was alive, she was alright, she wasn't in a coma. Relief flooded through him as she turned her pale eyes to him. She looked utterly confused as Kiba sat back on the hardwood. It was a little cold but he really didn't mind as Akamaru trailed into the room his toenails clicking on the hard surface.

'Kiba-kun why am I here?' she asked as he smiled and rubbed his neck. This was going to be awkward he could tell. Hinata watched her best friend, correction half naked best friend clad only in a pair of black silk boxers as she felt her face flood with heat. Oh how embarrassing and he had been lying on top of her. Oh no. she felt her vision start to spot as her blush become fiercer as she put together Kiba's state of undress and her on the couch.

'Wow, Hinata-chan calm down!' he said waving his arms rather comically before jumping to his feet. 'it's not like that!' he winced realizing how she had woken up and his state of undress and inability to clean up from the night before. It didn't look good.

'Th-then wh-wh-what h-happened?' she stammered now the most adorable shade of fire hydrant red he had ever seen as he sighed and kicked one of her still damp layers idly. Hinata was waiting for an answer and was starting to hyperventilate as he started to get annoyed at his own inability to express any kind of emotion.

'I found you freezing to death out in that storm. Hinata what were you thinking? You could've come here I have a spare room and I don't care who stays over!' he blurted angrily as the shy girl flinched on the couch. Immediately Kiba regretted his outburst and ran a hand through his already terribly disheveled hair. Currently he was rivaling Kakashi at how gravity defying his hair was as Hinata thought this situation would've been hilarious except for the circumstances.

'I-I don't… know' she said looking into her lap as Kiba sighed and sat on the arm rest beside her. Hinata blushed again but kept her gaze averted from his body as he smirked. She always had been squeamish around guys trying to be a proper lady that her asshole of a father had drilled into her. Kiba grit his teeth and fought back the wave of hot anger, now was not the time.

'Listen, Hinata. Neji came yesterday and told us what happened. He was the one who sent us out looking for you in the storm. I know how much you hate imposing on people but we're your friends if we cant help you out when your family is being stupid then who can?' he said as she turned shy eyes that held slight tears at him. It alarmed him, had he said something wrong? Dammit why was she crying? He nearly panicked as Hinata gave one of her shy little smiles that made his heart soar. Maybe he hadn't done something wrong after all? Then why was she crying?!

'Thank you Kiba. But, I cant impose on you. You've been such a good friend too. I-I need to get my own apartment and start living on my own. To prove to myself that I can be something' she whispered as Kiba really wanted to hit Hiashi very hard. Hinata seemed so broken from being disowned as he sighed. He understood how Hinata would want to try to show her jerk of a father she could be something as an idea came to him. Low and behold Kiba Inuzuka had an idea! Shino would've shit a brick if he knew what Kiba was thinking.

'Hey Hinata, if you want an apartment why don't you stay here with me? I was thinking of getting a roommate plus we know each other so we're less likely to kill one another what do you say?' he asked as Hinata looked at her best friend. She really had no where else to go and Kiba was a sweet guy. Plus he had the spare bedroom and she could pay half the rent as well saving them both a good chunk of money. It seemed like a good idea.

Downtown Konoha....

Kakashi sat at a breakfast table with his wife, Naruto and Sakura as he suddenly looked to his right toward where Kiba's house was. A smile crossed his masked face as the others all shared a confused look.

'I think something wonderful just happened' he said as Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi's wife exchanged worried looks. Sakura was the first to speak up.

'That means something terrible had just happened in the real world. I better find Ino' she said as Naruto gave Kakashi's wife a worried look as she rolled her eyes and punched her husband knocking him into the stack of pancakes.

Back at Kiba's………

Hinata was staring at him like he'd just lost his mind. Her. Stay here. With him. He was grinning as she weighed her options. Stay with Kiba who she knew and was good friends with or go out and truck around having no idea what she was doing trying to find an apartment. Kiba's offer looked really like her only option as she nodded.

'I'll stay here thank you Kiba' she smiled as he nodded feeling better about the whole situation. His stomach grumbled as he realized he hadn't eaten much supper last night because he had been worrying about her strange behaviour. He walked over to the kitchen feeling better as he rummaged around in the fridge. He really needed groceries badly the guys from last night had just about cleaned him out of food as he found some bread and eggs. He stopped and looked back at Hinata suddenly realizing that he didn't even know what she would want for breakfast. For her being his friend for so long, he knew surprisingly little about the kunoichi.

'Hey Hinata what do you want for breakfast? He asked as she looked up to see him half crouched over rooting in the fridge. She smiled and untangled herself from her cocoon of blankets only to realize she was only dressed in her leggings and tank-top as a fierce blush rose to her face. Kiba had probably seen her hideously flawed body as she wrapped a blanket around herself and shuffled into the kitchen. Her body was tired and sore from nearly freezing to death as she managed to make it to the table.

Kiba was at her side in an instant asking if she was okay or needed any pain killers as she lay a hand on his warm forearm.

'I'm fine Kiba' she said as he swallowed and nodded. He sighed and on impulse crouched and hugged Hinata. She wasn't surprised, he hugged her a lot growing up when she was sad or hurt and it felt good to have him as a constant no matter what as she smiled and Kiba stood.

He was still surprised he had hugged her that randomly. He needed more sleep definitely as he shook his head and moved into the kitchen. He had to keep himself in check around Hinata. She was an easy person to get along with. Too easy. He couldn't let himself show how much he cared for her it would completely freak her out and she would run.

He took out a cast iron pan and some butter before cutting the toast and putting it in the toaster. The butter sizzled when he dropped in the eggs their whites flashing white as soon as they hit the hot pan. Hinata watched Kiba cook, she knew it was impolite to stare but she had never actually seen Kiba with his shirt off other than when treating wounds and usually she was too focused on stopping the blood to notice his actual body.

Kiba was one of those guys who looked like a man. He wasn't effeminate in the slightest like Sasuke had been. Sasuke had nearly looked like a girl he was so effeminate but Kiba wasn't. He was strong without being overly muscular and was tanned from the summer months he had obviously spent outside as much as possible. Scars crisscrossed his body as he flipped the eggs in the pan effortlessly without a spatula. But what Hinata found funny about Kiba was his tattoos. The red facial markings had always drawn her eyes from his strong jaw line right to his dark brown eyes that looked almost black. As kids Kiba had looked pretty ordinary, not that handsome or pretty but after he hit sixteen something changed and Hinata guess it was because of shifting hormones but Kiba was quite handsome. She even dared to say he was one of the best looking shinobi in the village, minus his horrid temper and impulsive thinking.

Kiba moved so easily around the kitchen as Hinata blushed, noticing he was still clad in only his boxers as Akamaru came in dragging a bowl the size of his head as he butted it against Kiba's knees.

'Alright I'll feed you' he muttered ducking into a cupboard and dishing out a large cup of food into the bowl before Akamaru barked his reply and dove in. Kiba sighed and buttered the toast and put them on plates before carrying them to the table.

'Here you go. Careful it's really hot' he said handing her a fork as she thanked him. They ate in silence. There really wasn't much to say between the two of them. Hinata finished her food before Kiba surprising both of them as Kiba gave into his usual manners and wolfed down the last of his food. Hinata realized she was still tired as her body ached a little when she moved. Picking up her plate she moved to put it in the sink as Kiba snatched it from her with a grin.

'Thank you Kiba' she smiled as he shrugged.

'Eh it's nothing. Are you still tired because the spare room is empty. Sleeping on that couch isn't the most wonderful thing in the world.' He said as she nodded. She really didn't mind sleeping on the couch but she did want another nap and maybe a shower as she realized how gross she felt from her two days of camping.

'Kiba, could I get a shower?' she asked as the Inuzuka blinked before mentally hitting himself. Duh, girls liked to be clean and showered like two or three times a day. His sister was a testament to that truth as he nodded.

'Yea here I'll show you the bathroom' he left the plates in the sink and trundled off back to the hall beside his bedroom and the guest room. The bathroom was pretty generic in shades of white and blue as he scavenged up some clean towels. Akamaru whined as Kiba sighed and nodded.

'I'm taking Akamaru out I'll be back alright?' he said as she nodded and he left taking Akamaru with him the large dog bounding happily behind him. That was why Kiba's apartment was so plain, having a big dog romping around would kill any décor other that the necessary furniture.

Turning on the hot water she stripped and stepped into the spray. It was wonderful having a hot shower again as she grabbed a green bottle. Misty rainforest green mint shampoo how random was it for Kiba to have Sakura's favorite brand of shampoo lying in his bathtub. It was the only shampoo in the bathroom she found out before washing her hair twice to get all of the dirt out of it. She noticed there was no conditioner as she sighed. Her hair was going to be an afro and the tangles unimaginable as she scavenged the bathroom looking for the illusive bottle.

Did men even use conditioner? It seemed not as she found a little bottle of conditioner wedge way at the back of the cabinet under the sink. She noticed it wasn't any brand she had ever tried but it smelt pleasant enough like strawberries as the tangles melted out of her hair. Her showed done she wrapped herself in her towel and made her way down the hall.

It seemed Kiba wasn't back yet as she noticed all of her clothing from before had been piled next to the washer in the laundry room by the door. That meant she had zero clean clothes and she was not going to wear her dirty ones as she tossed those into a corner of the guest room. The only option she had was to steal Kiba's clothes. Would he mind? She really hated taking without asking first but did she really want him to see her naked with only a towel on? No, no she did not as she checked the set of drawers in the guest room. She pulled out a baggy t-shirt and some flannel pj pants as she put them on. Kiba was a great deal bigger than she was as she nearly swam in his clothes. Luckily the pants had a drawstring as she tightened the loop. The guest room was fairly plain. A bed, dresser, night table, lamp, closet and desk as she curled up on the large queen bed, one thing she was liking more and more about the Inuzuka clan was they seemed to love downy soft mattresses as within minutes Hinata was asleep once again.

Kiba swore he had the worst luck. On his little errand with Akamaru to let the ninja dog out for a pee while he went and bought groceries had turned into the bloody Spanish inquisition. First he had run into Ino who demanded to know where Hinata was. He told her plainly that she was probably sleeping in his apartment in the guest room. She had immediately run off, next had been Naruto who had sugar in his system and even at the age of 21 still acted like a six year old. He had wanted to know Hinata's welfare and what was going on before Sakura and Sai had butted in asking where Hinata was going to go.

He had wanted to blurt out she was living with him as his roommate but a little whisper that seemed to float through his head left him thinking it better that he leave them in the dark for the moment.

He had managed to buy his groceries in peace at least before being hounded down by Shikamaru, Lee, and TenTen who had also been concerned about the shy Hyuuga and had demanded that he come to lunch with them. He had declined saying that he needed to head home to repair some damages from the storm as he fled from the questioning gazes.

He was glad for that little voice. The whisper. Where had it come from? He had never had a 'whisper' as such before. He shrugged it off as lack of sleep as he kicked his front door closed. He really wanted to punch something as Akamaru whined and licked his hand as he smiled at his friend and set the paper bags on the table.

'I know boy, rough morning' he muttered noticing his apartment was silent as the grave. Immediately a weight settled in his stomach as he heightened his senses. Hinata's scent was nearly over powering as he stumbled for a second catching himself on the back of one of the kitchen chairs. His nose was going berserk! Her scent covered everything in his apartment with a light almost lilac scent that reminded him of early summer.

Akamaru looked at him questioningly and gave a soft woof as Kiba shook his head trying to dispel the scent that seemed to cling to his nose.

'Go find Hinata' he said and started unpacking and putting away the groceries. A few minutes later the dog had reported back that she was asleep in the guest room as Kiba nodded and tossed a biscuit to him. Akamaru snapped it up happily before jumping into the old armchair and turning on the TV. Kiba sighed and lay his head against the fridge letting the cool metal surface ease the headache he knew was beginning just beyond the tips of his reach. Why was everyone in this village so damn annoying?! They were like vultures always waiting for the next scrap of gossip to scavenge before spreading it out with several different versions pf the actual account.

Shino and Hinata and maybe Shikamaru and Chouji were the only people he could really stand in this town other than the older adults. He found Kakashi's new wife to be funny especially with her genin team. But his friends he had known since pre-academy were irritating to say the least now that they were all adults.

Taking a few Tylenol he decided that a rest really was the best thing as he stepped past the couch. Akamaru was watching a soap opera as he rolled his eyes. He never knew why he watched such utter garbage but then again he didn't know why Akamaru liked TV at all, shouldn't he be out chasing cats or something?

He passed the guest room and ducked in to check on Hinata. She was sleeping peacefully her breathing even as she was wrapped in the six different blankets the bed was normally covered in as a smile worked his way across his face. His headache was quickly becoming a migraine as he sighed and pushed at the side of his head, this was going to be a bad one. Heightened senses came with their prices and Kiba had had his own fair share of setbacks because of his bloodline limits.

Hinata stirred in her sleep a loose smile turning up the corners of her mouth as she groped for something and frowned when she didn't find it. Quickly Kiba grabbed a nearby pillow and shoved it under her arm as she grabbed it and pulled it against her snuggling into it before drifting off again.

Kiba would've laughed out loud at the sight of the kunoichi if his head didn't feel like it was going to split in two. The Inuzuka's lived on the outer part of the town because of their family traits. Excessive noise, smells and general over crowding of people were enough to set off Kiba into a massive migraine. His sister wasn't plagued like he and his father had been, even his mother wasn't as bad but she still had massive headaches on bad days after dealing with ignorant chounin for long periods of time.

Groaning he tried to shut out everything as he turned off the lights in his room, closed the blinds and closed the door. It was terrifically painful as he lay on his bed. Sleep could fix some of the pain if he could slip past the pain to sleep. Even in the darkness of the room he could still hear Akamaru on the couch watching TV, Hinata's even breathing in the next room. The gurgle and hiss of water in the pipes, the sighing of snow covered branches of the pine trees by his apartment scraping the wooden paneling outside of his room, the pidgeon's cooing on the roof as he bit back a growl and slammed his pillow over his ears. It turned into a whimper as he jarred his head making the pain flare up again as he rolled onto his side and tried his best to block it out.

Across the apartment Akamaru had pleasantly finished his soaps. He loved laughing at the silly humans and their conflicting emotions. He was certainly glad he didn't have complex emotions as he went to check on his pack leader. He knew Kiba was in pain thought their chakra link. They could roughly almost feel one another in a lack of ways to express the connection as he padded into the room. Kiba was on his side facing the wall with his head wedged under a pillow which was being forced against his head so hard Kiba's knuckles were white.

Akamaru knew how bad Kiba's headaches could get. He had felt them full force when Kiba had opened their link wider to understand him better once when he had had a migraine. It was not a pleasant experience. He nudged Kiba as the young man groaned and put his heavy hand on Akamaru's head giving a half hearted scrub. He knew Kiba must've been in extreme pain to not even bother moving.

He felt bad in a way for his alpha as his tail swung idly. He knew what would make him feel better, that funny falling over female in the next room. Kiba had always been happy when she was around the shift in body language and scent always changed into a lighter tone with Kiba when she was around. He gave his alpha a lingering glance as he left to go see to the funny female that he could hear rousing herself from her long sleep.

Hinata loved just waking from a good nap. It was wonderful the warm floaty feeling where everything was soft and still dreamlike but she could still pick out noticeable things about the waking world. There was a gruff woof from her left as she noticed Akamaru's large head resting on the mattress as her face creased into a frown.

'Akamaru?' she asked as the big dog whimpered and then gave a low bark followed by a yip and a whine. She had no idea what he wanted as he seemed to give up and grabbed her hand gently in his teeth and tugged. He obviously wanted her up as she sat up rubbing the sleep from here eyes. She felt completely normal now after such a good sleep as she staggered to her feet. It took her a moment of stumbling blearily after the horse of a dog as he led her into Kiba's room as she was instantly awake.

'Akamaru get back here!' she whispered as the lump on the bed shifted. Looking up she saw Kiba's hand stick out and land on Akamaru's head as the large dog gave a long whine. Something was very wrong with Kiba if he didn't jump up at once to greet her. She started to worry as the bitter taste filled her mouth as she went to check on her friend. Akamaru wagged his tail as she approached and sat gently on the edge of the bed.

'Kiba, are you alright?' she asked keeping her voice just above a whisper as she noticed his death grip in the pillow over his head. 'Kiba?' the tang had taken a bitter edge as she really was starting to worry. This was not normal for Kiba as she hesitated. He needed help either way as she gently touched his hand. Immediately he relaxed slightly as she managed to pry the pillow off of his face.

Hinata was shocked as she looked at her best friend. He was incredibly pale and his face was scrunched like he was in extreme pain as he gave her a pained smile. She shifted slightly as he winced and put his hands over his ears and whimpered tears coming to his eyes. She was floored, she had never EVER seen Kiba in such a state of weakness. Not even in the hospital after he had his body beaten within an inch of life by Sasuke trying to retrieve him from Orochimaru.

It made Hinata nearly pass out in panic as he looked up at her with his familiar warm dark eyes.

'Migraine. I used to get them… a lot as a kid' he panted as Hinata recalled him telling her about his headaches when he was a kid. Growing up with super senses had their downfall too especially considering they were in humans and not animals that had their bodies designed for their senses. Hinata knew what to do for migraines. She had had a few in her genin days from using the byakugan too much and causing herself to suffer the consequences alone after.

Kurenai had been the one that had helped her through those difficult days where Hiashi ignored her, focusing on Neji and Hanabe leaving her to fend for herself. She had taught her how to care for herself and basic needs like cooking cleaning basic things like that. Kurenai was like her big sister and after Asuma died Kurenai had cried for hours on Hinata's shoulder. It had been a trying time for everyone in teams 8 and 9. Team 7 was dissolved and ripped to shreds thanks to Sasuke leaving Kakashi, Naruto and Sakura drowning in his wake. It was depressing what had happened in Konoha over the years to her friends and near family as she gently touched Kiba's hand again.

He seemed to be in such pain as she activated her byakugan. She looked at Kiba, his chakra seemed to be moving well but it looked like there was a block in his neck that was causing his chakra to pool near where his eyes and ears roughly would be.

Kiba had always found it frightening to stare at someone with an activated byakugan. They always looked like they were about to rip you to shreds, not that Hinata would, she was a gentle as a lamb but it was still unsettling watching her figure in the darkened room.

'It looks like you have a few blocked chakra points Kiba' she whispered as she gently lay a cool hand on the side of his neck. He froze, he knew Hinata was just trying to help him but in his state he just could not handle her touching him as he felt a jolt of chakra much like a shock run through his neck. The effects were nearly immediate as the throbbing in his head seemed to ebb a little. Kiba was so relieved he didn't even notice the next two jolts as Hinata gingerly reached across his chest to release a pressure point just under his ear as he opened his eyes and noticed Hinata leaning over him.

He jumped, bolting upright in bed. Not the best idea seeing as Hinata had been leaning over him as he smacked his head into hers with quite a lot of force as pain bloomed across his forehead as there was a yelp from Hinata before she tumbled onto his legs.

'Holy fuck are you okay?' Kiba asked reaching for her with concern flashing through his eyes as Hinata rubbed her mouth. She could taste the metallic tang of blood as she checked the damage. Cut lip. Not bad but it would take some time for the swelling to go down. She looked up into concerned brown eyes as she took in his crazy hair and lack of shirt, a blush rising to her cheeks as she stared at the sheets.

'I-I'm f-f-f-ine. I j-just cut m-m-my lip' she managed to get out as Kiba looked at her. She was hiding her mouth behind her hand. How badly had that hit hurt her? His head was still hurting from the blunt force he hand smacked into her with as in a flash he reached out and grabbed her hand away from her mouth.

Her lip was split on the bottom left side as he instantly felt angry at himself. It was starting to swell but at least the bleeding was slowing down as he gently reached out to touch it. She looked away blocking his hand and stood not saying a word at his gaze. It had unnerved her how he had looked at her lip. There were so many emotions flashing across his face she was surprised as it had settled on being ashamed and angry as she had to walk away.

'Hinata I'm sorry about that! Hey come back!' he called chasing after the fleeing Hyuuga as he found her curled on the couch cradling the remote and flipping through the basic cable channels. Hinata was a girl that spooked easily, one wrong step and he would send the shy girl running from him. He definitely did not want that as he sighed and rubbed his arm. The apartment was quite cool as he actually noticed his lack of dress as he mentally smacked himself. Hinata was so shy and sheltered she had probably never seen a half naked guy let alone someone like him who just wandered around his house in whatever state he felt like.

He back tracked to his room and put on a pair of Pj's pants and an old undershirt that had been worn so much that it should've been scrapped for rags. He peeked out as he noticed Akamaru was on the couch with Hinata as he seemed to be trying to talk with her. A grin cracked his face as he listened to Akamaru's increasing irritability with his lack of communication with the kunoichi as Kiba came back into the room.

Hinata didn't look at him as she continued to channel surf. He only had about 80 channels but that didn't seem to stop her as she kept flipping. Akamaru whined and thumped his tail on the floor looking between the two. He knew Kiba was worried and stressed about Hinata as the kunoichi seemed anxious and severely depressed from her scent as he decided that she needed him more than his alpha did and lay his head in her lap.

Hinata was surprised when Akamaru put his massive head in her lap and demanded to be pet. Most of the time Akamaru refused to be touched or even be around anyone other than his master as Kiba looked at the horse of a dog questioningly before he gave a low woof and a whine. She looked up to catch Kiba's gaze and quickly turned away. The emotions that Hinata had seen had frightened her. Kiba wasn't and overly emotional person and the depth of what she had seen had frightened her, there was something more to Kiba than he let on and it made her anxious. Kiba was her best and closest friend other than Sakura and Ino but they were really only there for female company. She never got along well with the two of them they all merely hung out as they had since their academy days as the four kunoichi in a class of 14 boys.

But Kiba had willingly become her friend the very day they were put on the same team. He had never really noticed her before until then and they immediately became fast friends. Shino and Kiba had been friends since pre-academy and welcomed her to join their group. Over the years she had come to see Kiba almost as a brother but now after that moment. She wasn't sure what to think anymore.

She pulled her legs to her chest. Everything she had thought she had known was falling apart. She was disowned, no longer a Hyuuga. She had no name, no place in the world, no place to live and no idea how to do anything. Naruto, the love of her life (or whom she assumed was) was getting married to one of her best friends. Now this, Kiba her one central point had broken something with that one gaze, one ashamed, sorry, angry, worried look that held a deeper darker emotion below it had crushed the last pillar holding up her fragile world causing everything to landslide down.

Hot tears rolled out of her eyes and down her cheeks as she buried her head in her knees. Why was life so unfair? Why did nothing ever seem to work out for her? It seemed like she was doomed to get dealt the worst hands of cards every time. She was shattered, torn, ripped apart. Nothing seemed stable anymore. In a matter of days everything se was had been yanked out from under her feet and she was expected to keep walking like it was no problem.

She wanted to scream. Scream in frustration at what was going on. Scream at Hiashi for being a masochistic manipulative patriarchal asshole. Scream at Naruto for never taking notice of her and putting her through years of anguish and torment. But for some odd reason she couldn't find it in her heart to scream at Kiba. He had always been so good to her, helped her, talked to her, worked things out with her, allowed her to cry on him and beat him up in training.

Kiba was a sweet guy. But she didn't know if she could handle any more changes that the look had implied just yet. She was frozen on the couch as soft quiet sobs shook her frame as she felt warm arms wrap around her. She froze. Who was touching her before she smelt Kiba's familiar woodsy masculine scent wrap around her and a dog like smell as she leant into the warmth.

Kiba had always been her reassurance. He always knew how to make everything better. She clung to his shirt as he rubbed her back. He may not of known what she was upset about but she knew it was distressing him to see her like this. Yet, she couldn't stop. The tears just kept flowing as her chest felt like she had been punched quite hard and her stomach was filled with lead. Nothing seemed right. Nothing.

'Hey, Hinata. What's wrong? Come on, we can see if there is a light at the end of this tunnel 'k?' he muttered as she shook her head and buried her face in his shoulder soaking his shirt as he gently rocked her. Akamaru was worried as he paced in front of the two young people. He knew Hinata was upset and that was making Kiba upset. He didn't want his alpha to be upset as he wanted to know how to calm her down but Kiba seemed too flustered to be of much help at the time as he watched the little scene.

He held her as she let out all of her frustrations in tears and soft sobs. It broke his heart to see her so upset and left a bitter taste in his mouth that made his anger flare up immediately. He wanted to go and give the bastards who caused her breakdown a good shake. He had already chewed himself out mentally while watching Hinata break down on his couch telling himself how stupid he had been to show anything more than friendly concern or worry and had frightened poor Hinata.

Letting her tears dry on his shoulder Hinata closed her eyes and just listened to the steady thrum of Kiba's heart as it made her world pull together a little more once again. A few things she did know. She had a home here at Kiba's and Kiba wasn't a bad roommate even with his shockingly open gazes. Plus she was free from all Hyuuga obligations and since she was removed before she was curse sealed. They couldn't touch her to seal off her bloodline limit. Konoha was still intact and she had a job.

Naruto. She had been dreading thinking of the wedding but in reality she had seen it coming, she had just lied to herself to take away some of the pain of reality. But now it seemed reality had come around full force to slap her as she rested against Kiba's shoulder completely spent from her emotional roller coaster.

'Hinata?' Kiba's voice rumbled through his chest as she actually felt it in her own. It was such an odd sensation as she looked up at him. He gave her one of his wolfy grins that made his fangs stick out that he knew she loved so much as a smile crossed her face. She moved away and put her head on her knees, wrapping her arms around her legs. I always made her feel safe sitting like this as Kiba sat watching her with his dark amber eyes.

'I guess… m-my life has just… ch-changed so much s-s-so recently th-that I-I'm still trying to understand wh-what's going t-t-to happen f-fr-from here.' She whispered as Kiba watched his best friend. He didn't know what pain she was dealing with but he had some faint clues. He knew that his open gaze had scared the crap out of her and that had been the icing on the cake for all of the shit that had happened in the last week.

He really wanted to pummel Naruto about now. He had had his revenge for the chounin exams long ago where he beat the silly brat into the dirt before the blonde had been taken to hospital by a concerned Sakura and Hinata. Bastard deserved it too. He sighed and rubbed his stiff shoulder and looked at her.

'Listen. I know this week has been shit and a lot of well, shit has happened but hey. At the very least you still have your friends, a place to call home, and me and Akamaru aren't leaving anytime soon!' he grinned as his good nature seemed to weedle its way into Hinata's broken heart. It warmed her as she felt like she could move again as a shy smile crossed her face. She wasn't completely healed. Not by a long shot but Kiba's statement of him always being there for here was the first piece that he had put back together.

There were many more to put back into place.

She gave him a watery smile and noticed her clothing strewn all about the floor as Akamaru chose to roll on one of the sweaters as a giggle escaped her lips. It felt good to laugh she smiled as Kiba watched his friend. Akamaru always knew how to cheer up the Hyuuga even if it was just him being a dog. It was strange in Kiba's mind how such little things seemed to stand out to him when Hinata noticed them. Most things he never took notice of before, Hinata stopped to smell the roses. Kiba rushed through them and flattened them most times as he moved from the couch to start picking up the still damp clothing.

'Wh-what are you d-doing Kiba?' she asked as he glanced over his shoulder as he picker up a pair of particularly soggy socks and tossed them into the rapidly growing pile.

'Picking up the laundry' he deadpanned pointing to the pile as a silence settled over the room before Hinata burst into laughter, not giggles, actual laughter. It bounced all around the apartment as Kiba found himself smiling to and laughing with her. His reaction had been rather funny as he tossed a pair of pants onto the pile as well before carrying the mass to the laundry room and putting a load of darks in. Kiba could look after himself, yes he was lazy at times but thanks to his healthy fear and respect for his mother and sister he kept the place clean and his stuff in order.

'y-y-you don't have to do th-that Kiba.' She muttered as Kiba kicked the washer door closed and set the machine whirring. He glanced over at her she was staring at him with her large pale lavender eyes. Everyone said they were white but he knew that there were flecks of lavender within where her iris would've been. It had always made Hinata stand out in his mind as he shook his head. He did NOT want to go down that path right now.

'It's alright. Might as well include your laundry with mine, it's more efficient that way.' He said simply realizing he had told Naruto that he was going to drop into the missions office and pick up a mission as he glanced over at Hinata. She looked so fragile as he grabbed his clean mission clothing from a laundry basket. It had taken him hours to scrub all of the dried blood from the shirt and stitch the rips as Hinata was back petting Akamaru. 'Hey Hinata, Do you think you're up for a mission yet?' Kiba asked as large moonlike eyes fixed on him as she swallowed nervously.

'Kiba, y-you know I-I-I've failed… 14 missions already' she said closing her eyes and putting her forehead against her knees. Kiba knew that stance, she was doubting herself again as he crossed the room and gently lay a hand on her shoulder. He knew how terrible failing a mission was, especially when friends and comrades died in your hands even after you tried to save them.

'Well I wasn't on any of them was I?' he grinned as she looked up at him. At times Kiba could be cocky, too cocky but for some reason his self assurance felt positive. It felt like he was trying to transfer some of his pride into her almost as she looked up at him with a soft smile.

'I suppose so' she muttered as a grin split Kiba's face making his elongated canines stick out even more as she held back a giggle. He always had looked like a puppy when he was happy. It was adorable to Hinata. But, she was still unsure. What would happen if she froze up again? She looked at Kiba who had turned and was retreating into his room to change. Could she live with herself if Kiba was hurt or killed? He was her best friend and it had been made more than painfully obvious that she was inept at being a ninja. She couldn't even prevent herself from getting hypothermia and had to rely on Shino and his insects to save her from freezing to death.

Maybe Hiashi was right, maybe she really was worthless.

She pulled her knees to her chest and lay her head on them. It was uncomfortable but made her more aware that she was real and reality did exist. It was a nice feeling as the ominous black clouds seemed to loom over her. She had passed the jounin exams, but for what? To watch friends die in her hands knowing there was nothing she could do to save them. Watching important documents be stolen while you were held at kunai point already broken, bloody, and in pain. But the worst of all was bringing back the dead bodies to the families. That was always the hardest job of all as she saw the anguish on their faces before they always burst into sobs.

She really was useless. Incompetent. She couldn't even catch Naruto's eye and had been trying for years only to be overlooked for a girl that wanted to kill him as a genin. She couldn't blame Sakura, she had always been a very pretty girl even with her abnormally large forehead. Hinata had just been ordinary. For a long time she had been told by Hiashi that she was almost as overweight as the Akimichi family and had promptly put her on a diet that she had to follow strictly until she was removed from the family.

Everything about her screamed of her inabilities. Hinata didn't even know who she was anymore as she looked at all of her flaws, every single one. There wasn't one good thing about who she was. She was just a waste of time and energy.

Then what did Kiba see in her to become such a good friend?

She glanced at his room to see him pulling on thick boots humming to himself as he attempted to fix his hair and failed miserably. Kiba was a comical person as Akamaru bowled him over as he was putting on his socks making the Inuzuka explode in some very colourful language and throw a sock at the dog before laughing.

He was always such an up and up person even though his anger did get the best of him sometimes. Maybe going on a mission, a small one, even with Kiba would help her accomplish it. They had never failed a mission on their genin or chounin teams when they had been paired together. She liked to think it was good karma for not chewing out the Inuzuka on a few embarrassing moments during missions that usually involved bathing.

She winced at the memory as something hit the back of her head. She jumped, startled and turned to look at a grinning Kiba.

'If you think to hard your head is going to explode Hinata' he teased now fully dressed and looking for his shoes as she grabbed the item he had thrown at her. It was clothing as she noticed it was a spare issue uniform that they all had received when reaching chounin status and again at jounin. Most ninja preferred not to wear them but she really didn't have a choice at the moment.

She moved to that spare room to change. Maybe things were looking up for her. Just maybe she thought as a small smile crossed her face.


	4. Easy mission right?

Dressed in the standard uniform made Hinata feel really self conscious even though there was more fabric to the outfit it also clung and hugged her frame more than she liked. Kiba walked calmly beside her. Both were bundled in layers of Kiba's spare winter clothing as she fiddled with the fraying end of her red wool scarf. A mission, she was so nervous about going on another mission after her last failure at a mission. She looked sideways at Kiba through her lashes. She would be beside herself if anything happened to the Inuzuka, especially with Naruto and Sakura's wedding looming in the horizon.

Kiba had noticed that the normal warmth that Hinata usually radiated had vanished suddenly as he looked at the crestfallen woman beside him. Her face was storm as she looked like she was battling a swarm of emotions as he sighed and punched her arm lightly. She jumped and looked up with a slight gasp realizing she had drifted off into her own thoughts by accident.

'Don't worry, judging by all of this snow we'll get an easy mission' he said as a small smile came to Hinata's face as she nodded. Kiba pushed open the gate as they made their way into the missions room. Hopping up the flight of stairs the room warmed greatly as the duo removed their hats, scarves and mitts. Izumo and Kotetsu looked bored as they were tossing wads of paper back and forth as Iruka looked like he was going to have a fit at their lack of work. Kakashi was standing off to the side laughing at Iruka with Ibiki as the attention shifted to them.

'Ah Kiba, Hinata! How good to see you' Kakashi said lazily as Kiba shook his head, he must've been a wonder in bed to catch any woman let alone his wife with that lazy attitude.

'Its nice to see you Kakashi, how is Yuki?' Hinata asked politely as the jounin shrugged.

'She is fine, getting bigger everyday' he laughed a little as Hinata smiled and gave a slight nod. 'What about you Hinata, are you doing well?' he asked as Kiba picked up the underlying message in Kakashi's tone. Kakashi was someone that Kiba had always liked, maybe it was because he was like him and had his team of dogs but he just seemed to understand the jounin as a fellow friend. Hinata was oblivious to the undertones as Kakashi glanced over at the Inuzuka. He knew that Kiba had caught his tone as had Ibiki as the Hyuuga blushed and nodded.

'yes, I'm fine. Things are slowly getting…more…bearable' she said still not meeting the silver haired man's eyes as he caught a level lazy stare with Kiba as if trying to piece something together.

'Well, then. I hope you both have an enjoyable mission. I have to get back to my wife before she beats me to death for being away too long' he laughed as the others laughed too. The funny thing was, was that Kakashi wasn't kidding. His wife was downright frightening when she wanted to be. Hell she had even run with the Akatsuki. That was a frightening woman if there ever was one.

'So Kiba, Hinata you both want an easy mission? It'll pay quite well' Izumo said tossing a scroll at Kiba's head. He caught it and opened it. It was a B-rank mission that had them bringing a crate of rare and expensive perfumes to a household on the coast. A simple one-two day mission that paid as well as an A-rank for each of them as Kiba thought about it. There must be more to the perfumes than them just being expensive. Maybe the person they were bringing them too was an arrogant ass that's why it paid so well. Whatever, Kiba needed to money and he knew Hinata hadn't a cent to her name.

'Yea sure. We'll take it' Kiba said as Hinata looked frightened as he tried to soothe her ruffled feathers.

'it's just a mission taking perfume to a house by the coast. A days mission really, maybe two if the snow slows our pace' he said as Hinata nodded. She could do this, it was just perfume a genin's job really as Kotetsu pulled out the packaging of perfumes. They were actually oils from Suna and cost nearly 100, 000 ryou a bottle and there were six of them in total. No wonder this was a rather well paid mission. Thieves would die at the chance to grab one of these as Hinata caught a whiff of one of them. It smelt like honey and something warm but floral as Kiba took the bottles and put them in his pack.

'Alright, lets head out Hinata' Kiba said as she nodded. They waved goodbye to the others and headed back to the house. Prep was easy all they did was grab a tent and some basic supplies for a few nights as they left the gates around late afternoon.

Kiba took the lead as Hinata kept behind him with Akamaru. Kiba was funny to watch jump through the show laden trees he used not only his legs but his arms as well to push off of the trees much like a dog running. Ever since they had been kids it had made Hinata laugh and think of him as a puppy. Even though Kiba definitely was not a puppy by anyone's standards. But she didn't want to go into the gory details that that protested.

Night fell as they kept moving in their comfortable silence. Everyone once in awhile he'd ask her if they were being followed or if anyone was around them and she would activate the byakugan and check. So far there had been no one as Kiba called them to a halt for the night.

They set up camp quickly and had a fire roaring within minutes. Hinata flopped down on a dry log they had found as Akamaru rolled over asking her to rub his stomach as Kiba gave a gruff bark to which Akamaru gave a whine. Hinata swore she would never understand the Inuzuka dog language as a kid but over the years she had picked some of it up. The last one was a warning form Kiba about being too friendly with her. Kiba was alpha male and since she was the only female, she was alpha female meaning that Akamaru being the beta was not to take liberties with her.

At least she had clued in to that much as a series of yips, barks, growls and whines were exchanged before Akamaru gave up and just put his massive head in her lap as she pet him.

'Whiney mutt' Kiba said tossing another log onto the fire as the flames licked it hungrily shooting sparks into the air.

'Wh-what was all th-that about?' Hinata asked as Kiba shrugged and rocked back on his heels.

'Nothing really, just Akamaru trying to push his boundaries' he said looking at the dog un question as there was a rumbling growl from Akamaru and a bark from Kiba as Hinata jumped. Kiba looked sheepish. 'Sorry.' He apologized and gave a menacing growl as Akamaru immediately came to stand beside the Inuzuka as Kiba sat beside Hinata.

'You didn't stutter today when you talked to Kakashi. I'm impressed' Kiba said as a hot blush rose into her cheeks. It was true she hadn't stuttered when the older man had talked to her. A small smile crossed her features. She really had talking to someone and hadn't sounded like a timid little mouse. Maybe she could get stronger even if she just overcame her stuttering she would just be that much more confident.

A spark popped loudly as Hinata jumped at the loud noise. Her smile faded. No, she was still the same scared, shy, failure she had always been. Stutter or not that's what she was.

Kiba watched her warring emotions once again. It really was eating him alive to see her so upset. He hadn't been this worried about her since Naruto had up and disappeared without even a goodbye. Hinata had been so depressed for so long it had him doing almost anything and everything just to help her. He had even enlisted the other kunoichi's help secretly to help her. Poor Hinata. She really had known nothing but hardship and relentless pain since her genin days. Even her love interest had ignored her and she had made it painfully obvious.

Kiba sighed and dug in his bag for their rations bars as he tossed one to Hinata.

'Don't beat yourself up Hinata. Your father is an abusive asshole. You're better off without him anyway at least being on your own you don't have to follow and stupid rules right?' Kiba muttered trying to lighten the mood as this only seemed to darken Hinata's as she burst into tears. Kiba was startled. Where had this come from? Suddenly he held armfuls of Hinata as she buried her face in his chest and sobbed.

'you're so kind Kiba.' She mumbled against his chest as he rubbed her back. Hinata was more upset with herself for imposing on Kiba so badly. She blamed her father for not preparing her for going out into the real world. Instead he had kept her locked away like a porcelain doll only to be displayed for company and festivals otherwise forgotten.

But Kiba always seemed to try and help her, give her a leg up, explain something she didn't get. He always tried to push her to be better. He was so kind, her best friend as she lay sobbing against his chest in the snow.

The trees seemed to whisper around them almost sighing in delight as little flakes of snow drifted off of the boughs and fluttered down on the little clearing. Kiba licked the one off of nose the fire gave a sputter as Hinata had stopped crying and was lying loosely in his arms. He wanted to freeze this moment forever, Hinata's warm soft body against his as the trees seemed to whisper between one another little loving secrets that made their branches bend and shake off little flakes. It was magical. He could smell her warm perfume, Lilac and orange blossoms as she shifted her head underneath his chin.

Sadly, all good things came to an end as the kunoichi stood and stretched. She turned to look back a him her large white eyes looking gold in the firelight as she gave a small smile.

'I'm going to sleep' she announced as Kiba nodded. He couldn't sleep yet anyway, he might as well have of taken first watch as the spot that Hinata had vacated felt uncomfortably empty and cold. He hated how much of an effect she had on him as he shivered and banked the fire to keep warm.

It had never bothered him as much as it did now. This thing he had for the kunoichi and it surprised him really. He had never been so…attached to anyone except maybe Akamaru. Maybe it was Hinata's distress that was bringing this out in him? He shook his head, he felt bad for Hinata but he knew how strong she could be. He had seen her determination time and time again when she kept living through difficult circumstances.

But this time Hinata seemed different. There was no usual spark behind her shy smile and her eyes just seemed a flat white not their usual pale lilac that they always had. It seemed like this was the final blow for Hinata like she had finally broken or something inside of her had broke.

It frustrated him to no end that he didn't know what it was or how to help. This wasn't something that kind words and a hug could fix. Those had always worked in the past but it all seemed useless and pointless now.

He glared into the roaring flames as they reached for the dark sky dancing around one another trying to escape. He hated feeling so useless. He punched the log he was sitting under and was satisfied by the crunch of the rotting wood. His head felt overfull as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. There were so many issues he had to deal with now and worst of all he had to be tactful about how he dealt with these issues. Coming out and blatantly stating to Hinata that he had a huge crush on her and had for years and wanted her to be his girlfriend was NOT the way to do this. If anything he would scare the poor girl off and then she'd really be in a state. No he had to keep whatever emotions he had for Hinata reigned in until she pulled herself together a bit more.

Akamaru whined and sat beside his master as Kiba idly scratched his ear.

'What should I do Akamaru? I don't know how to fix what's happened' he muttered as Akamaru looked at the alpha. Humans were funny creatures. He knew Kiba was upset and Hinata had just given up at even trying to be a ninja. It was sad really. He looked at Kiba as the flames hissed and crackled.

'Firstly you need to help her become more confident. She's given up trying Kiba. We have to try to show her she has value then go from there' Akamaru stated as Kiba looked at the dog. Since when had he become so smart? Maybe watching those damnable soap operas had paid off somewhere along the way as he gave Akamaru and extra ration of beef jerky he had packed.

'Since when did you get so smart?' Kiba asked as Akamaru shrugged and wandered off to the tent happily munching on his prize. Kiba listened to the woods as he heard Hinata's light snores from inside the tent. He would have to start off small and try to build Hinata's confidence and essentially restructure her foundations that had recently been shattered. He sighed and looked at the sky. This was going to be hard knowing how much he just wanted to grab the poor girl and kiss her to death.

Kiba pulled his coat closer to his body. This was going to be one of the longest watches ever.

The night passed slowly as around one Kiba woke up Hinata for her shift. Crawling into the tent he noticed she was wrapped in both her sleeping bag and his as Akamaru lay beside her keeping her warm as she held the puppy close for warmth. It was touching really as Kiba shook himself and gently shook her shoulder.

'mmm?' she asked blinking her eyes wearily as she caught sight of him. 'my watch?' she asked with a yawn as he nodded. He had banked the fire as she gave him a slight smile and crawled out of the tent. Akamaru looked at him as he jerked his head after the woman. Akamaru took the hint and scampered after her.

At the very least Kiba could rest a little better knowing Akamaru was with her as he rolled himself up in his sleeping bag. It smelt faintly of Hinata as he closed his eyes and tried to relax. It wasn't easy as he lay there listening to the wind whisper its way through the trees and heard Hinata's deep sigh as she coaxed the coals in the fire pit.

How he hated this. He grumbled and rolled over forcing himself to try to sleep if even for only a few hours.

Hinata sat out on the log scratching Akamaru behind his ears as the fire crackled and sizzled in front of her. Why was she even here? She was just a liability to have her here on this mission. Akamaru gave a low whine as she resumed scratching his head. She should've just stayed at Kiba's and tried to find her own apartment. But then again, she needed money to get an apartment. What a wonderful circle she had managed to get into.

The forest was just about silent as she did a sweep of the area. Nothing. She could tell Kiba wasn't asleep because his normal gruff snores hadn't filled the area yet. It unnerved Hinata how open Kiba had been earlier that afternoon but maybe that was just because he was thankful that she had relieved his migraine. Yes that's what it was.

She sighed as she watched the sun slowly rise and the forest become alive as birds sang and little animals scampered around. She started breakfast and had the eggs and toast finished by the time Kiba managed to get up.

He stretched and shivered wrapping his scarf more tightly around himself as Hinata gave him a quick flash of a smile.

'breakfast is ready' she said handing him the food as he thanked her. They broke camp and continued on their way. The house was only a few miles off as they doubled their speed to reach their goal.

'Who lives all the way out here and wants expensive perfume?' Kiba asked as Hinata shrugged.

'Someone who likes privacy?' she equipped as Kiba shook his head.

'it just seems odd' he said as a massive mansion loomed suddenly in front of them. The duo blinked and looked between one another. 'really odd' he said as Hinata nodded and gulped. They buzzed the button on the side of the gate as a chirpy female voice came over the intercom.

'who is it?' both of them winced at the overly happy tone as Kiba was the one who spoke up.

'Shinobi from Konoha, We've brought you the requested items from Suna' he said as there was a set of high pitched squeals.

'Okay we're buzzing you in!' came the squeak as the doors unhinged and the trio stepped through easily. Once inside Hinata noticed all of the guards. They were everywhere and all looked more than a little menacing as her stomach dropped. She did not like the looks of this one bit as Akamaru kept himself on her right and Kiba on her left. It was comforting as the front door was thrown open and six blonde girls in frilly dresses ran out of the house and ran straight into Kiba tackling him to the ground.

Hinata gasped as he deftly tossed the package containing the perfume to Hinata as she caught them before Kiba disappeared from view by frills, pastel colours and giggles.

'I love shinobi!'

'They so hot!'

'he's gorgeous!'

'ooh! He's so strong'

Hinata felt her eye twitch as Akamaru barked at the writhing mass of girls as Hinata saw Kiba's arm flail as he tried to push the mass off.

'GIRLS OFF!' came the bark as a little man with a massive mustache and glasses stomped out onto the veranda. Immediately the girls all jumped up and bowed. They all looked to roughly be around the age of 16 in various shades of blonde as the little man laughed and the girls looked sheepish.

'Sorry father!' they chorused as Hinata looked at Kiba. He looked confused as he sat up and looked around.

'Ow?' he muttered as he noticed Hinata looking particularly owlish as the blonde girls that had attacked him were now being good. The stout little man waddled over to where Kiba and Hinata were standing as Kiba managed to stand. He turned to Hinata and beamed at her.

'You must be the wonderful shinobi that brought my girls their perfume all the way from Suna.' He said as Hinata blushed and nodded handing over the package of wrapped bottles. The stout man smiled and took the package. 'well aren't you just a breath of fresh air. So modest unlike my girls and a kunoichi too! My, my, my! You should be very proud of yourself little lady.' He grinned again his gray eyes twinkling as Hinata's blush doubled. Kiba laughed, Hinata was still acting like a shy school girl it was endearing to him as the little man whirled to face him.

'You young man, thank you for bringing these perfumes all the way out here. Not many would do such a kind thing and leave our request for weeks at the missions office. It is so nice that my girls can have their birthday presents the day of their birthday.' He grinned as Kiba smiled.

'You are quite welcome and happy birthday' he smiled warmly at the girls as for some reason Hinata's heart did a little jump at the sight of Kiba's warm smile. What an odd reaction, she had never really taken notice of Kiba's smile as one of the girls fainted and another blushed hotly. A few looked like they wanted to jump him as he moved to stand beside Hinata.

'Well, we must be going. Have a nice day' Kiba said as Akamaru gave a yip and he gently steered Hinata away from the gaggle of girls. They had taken a few steps when the little man called them back.

'Wait a second!' he called as they turned to see the little man rush up. 'it seems I've made a mistake. I have seven bottles here please, take one of these back with you for being so prompt on getting my girl's birthday presents to them' he said handing the bottle of amber liquid to Hinata. A crimson blush spread across her face as he gave her a grin. 'A beautiful light perfume for a stunning young lady, I bet you make a nice young man very happy' he said and winked at Kiba as Hinata felt her vision become spotted and her hearing become fuzzy as she fainted. Kiba caught his teammate before she could hit the ground as Akamaru caught the perfume bottle.

'Thanks. She has anemia and the cold really isn't good for her. We should be going' Kiba explained as the blondes looked insanely jealous as Kiba arranged Hinata to ride piggy back as Akamaru took the pack from his master.

'Have a safe journey back y'hear?!' he called as Kiba gave a slight wave before jumping into the trees. That had been one of the weirdest set of clients he had ever had to deal with as he walked down the cleared road back to Konoha. Hinata was warm against his back but her dead weight was a little heavy but she kept slipping as he bounced her higher over his shoulders.

'What do you think about the perfume?' Akamaru asked as Kiba shrugged.

'It's a nice gift. I haven't smelt it yet personally I don't like perfume' he said as Akamaru yipped in agreement. Kiba had never liked any girls perfume he had always found it over powering and made him feel sick or get a headache quickly when he had gone on dates with them.

'How are you going to start helping her gain confidence?' Akamaru asked as Kiba looked at the mutt in mild irritation. Akamaru was getting lippy again he was going to have to put him in his place when they got home. Hinata stirred on his back letting out a low groan before snuggling into his hood. She was sleeping. Kiba stopped and blinked. She wasn't unconscious, she was asleep. The thought was suddenly insanely funny as he barked out a laugh.

Oh Hinata, she was something unique.

Please review! - BTW if you have any plot ideas give me a heads up I'm always open to suggestions =]


	5. Battle! and eavesdropping

Kiba kept walking just taking his time. They could easily make it home in an afternoon as suddenly Akamaru let out a feral growl and fell into an attack position. Immediately Kiba slid into a defensive stance and heightened his senses. He found three chakra flares hidden in the bush around the road. The flares weren't very large so he assumed they were either bandits or chounin level rogue ninja.

Hinata was still out cold as he shifted her slightly. If they were bandits then they would be dealt with easily enough but if the were chounin then he would have to hide Hinata somewhere until he finished them off.

'Akamaru, flush them out' he commanded as the large dog disappeared. There was a loud bark as the three chounin ninja leapt from their hiding spots. Kiba blinked. These were wave ninja as he paled. This was going to be difficult as it was with wave ninja, having an unconscious Hinata was not going to help any. All three chounin were massive standing head and shoulders above Kiba.

'Well, well, what do we have here?' the biggest one grinned his jagged teeth clicking together as a slighter one that Kiba could tell was female as she giggled and shifted a set of rusted daggers.

'It looks like a lost puppy and its mate' she giggled as the third one spat.

'Doesn't matter lets just kill them and take their valuables' the third one was lanky for a wave ninja but built like a tank compaired to Kiba as he gave a grin.

'Well then you've picked the wrong travelers to pick on' he said as the clasped his hands into the dragon seal as Akamaru bounded out of the trees and latched onto the leaders arm. There was a bit of confusion as the leader attempted to rip the 200 pound dog off of his arm. There was a sickening crunch as the leaders arm fractured under the weight of Akamaru's bite.

'DAMN YOU!' he roared as his arm hung uselessly as the female let out an enraged roar and attacked trying to slash widely at Kiba's chest. Kiba tightened his hold on Hinata and grabbed a few shuriken tossing them at her as she deflected them easily enough.

Hinata was still out as Kiba dodged another attacked and kicked her squarely in the chest as he flipped over and landed in a tree. He dropped into the bushes as he tucked Hinata into a crease in the tree. She would be safely hidden as the chakra flares were approaching him again. Akamaru had held them off for as long as he could as Kiba jumped out of the shrubs armed with wire and Kunai.

'You'll pay for that trick with you mutt!' the burly ninja roared and charged swinging his hug sword. Kiba ducked and kicked the ninja in the shin as he twisted and hit him with an upper cut.

The large ninja swayed before Kiba suddenly couldn't move his leg. Looking down he noticed that there was wire wrapped around his leg holding him pinned into the dirt. He cursed as the wire started to bite into his skin cutting through his pants.

'Ooh look I caught a puppy!' she giggled as Kiba was caught by the burly ninja's punch as he hit the ground, rolled and stood once again. Kiba dodged a hail of kunai as one caught him across the cheek. He could feel the sting of the poison that it had been laced with as he cursed.

He needed help. Akamaru had transformed into a clone and was trying to take down the largest ninja with the broken arm as he was thrown into a nearby tree. Kiba winced, that would hurt terribly as he heard the whoosh of chakra being drawn together. He turned to his right in time to see a massive wave with what looked like barracuda snapping at him as he felt the chakra fish grab him. Their teeth sliced through flesh as his back made contact with a tree and the wire around his leg pulled tight cutting deeply. He hoped that he wouldn't break his leg as the water jutsu wore off but he was caught in a water prison instead.

He cursed his luck as Akamaru attacked again. He was in big trouble, he only had a limited supply of oxygen and the poison was still free flowing in his system. If he could only move!

He watched helplessly as Akamaru was thrown once again into a tree, then pummeled into the dirt. He should've seen that wire! He was starting to worry as the female went to investigate the bushes where he had hidden Hinata. He could feel his pulse race as she poked and prodded around the bushes before she grabbed Hinata's long purple hair and hauled her limp body up as she gestured to the others and laughed.

DAMMIT!

Panic flashed through him as Akamaru tried to stand but failed as he didn't have enough chakra left to even stand as he watched helplessly as Hinata was dragged out from her hiding place and held limply by her long hair.

Oh dear god, he prayed to whatever higher power there was that she would be alright as she was shaken rather sharply before Hinata's eyes flew open the byakugan activated. There was such malice in the look she shot the female before she hit her squarely in the chest. The woman looked startled before she let go of Hinata and toppled over dead.

Kiba started. Holy shit had Hinata just killed that woman in a single blow? He was awestruck as the jutsu that had sealed him broke and he toppled to the ground gasping in much needed oxygen.

Hinata stood watching the other two wave ninja as she watched their chakra flow through their bodies. Fighting with the Hyuuga style was easy enough as she pulled tendrils of her chakra around her and attached kunai from her pockets to them as she rushed the first ninja aiming directly for the chakra points by his heart.

The burly ninja evaded her first attack but she landed a blow to his arm effectively rendering it useless as the other attempted to attack her from behind. She saw him without ever turning her head with the byakugan as she deftly moved a kunai from her pocket as it slashed him across the throat.

'HARU!' the burly ninja roared as his comrade gurgled a surprised reply before falling to the dirt dead. In that moment of distracting Hinata hit him squarely in the chest killing him instantly as he too toppled over dead into the dirt.

Hinata's heart was racing as she stood still in her defensive stance as she let out a shaky breath and stood up. Kiba was leaning heavily on a tree as Akamaru limped over to the kunoichi and gave a long whine.

'Akamaru! Where's Kiba?' she asked as she lifted the puppy sized Akamaru into her arms as he gave a little yap and pointed toward where Kiba was now sitting. His body was in such pain from the poison as every muscle seemed heavy.

'Kiba!' Hinata gasped and dropped to her knees beside him. 'Are you alright?' she asked quickly checking him over as she noticed his bulging purple veins. Poison. Quickly she searched her pockets, Sakura had given her a pack of anti-venoms and antidotes for all kinds of poisons as she pulled out the largest bottle which was a general antidote for most common poisons that were made from various plants in the area as she quickly filled a syringe with the light pink fluid and injected it into Kiba's arm.

She watched the antidote take effect as his blood pressure returned to normal and the purple that his veins had once had was diminishing. At that moment she thanked Sakura with all of her being as Kiba gave a dry laugh.

'Wow, I had no idea you knew anything about poisons' he said as she gave a small smile.

'It was a gift from Sakura after I was been bitten by a venomous snake in grass' she said and helped Kiba to his feet. He was a little wobbly but could manage as Kiba saw the three bodies littering the road. They would have to send a clean up crew when they returned as Hinata swung his arm over her shoulder and plodded along determined to make it back to the village.

Kiba was surprised, Hinata was not acting timid in the slightest as she half dragged his malfunctioning body along. His feet just did not want to cooperate as he felt his anger rising up again. He clamped down on it but after his third stumble he bit out a few choice words that made Hinata flinch. He felt terrible for it but neither party said anything as Akamaru had gone to sleep on Kiba's head as they walked.

'That was really awesome back there Hinata' Kiba said trying to break the silence that had settled over them as she blinked and looked at him. He smirked. 'I haven't seen you in a real fight in a long time. You're really good.' He said as Hinata blushed and looked at her feet.

'I'm not that good Kiba. I was just… so scared that you and Akamaru were hurt that I had to do something. Anything' she whispered as Kiba started violently. She had only fought like that because she had thought he was hurt? He thought back on the fight. She hadn't hesitated at all, it was a good thing she hadn't otherwise it would've turned out much worse. Hinata was a good ninja, but it seemed she needed to be scared, not for herself but for others for it to be effective.

But members had died on her before and from the reports she had still hesitated. He watched her as she kept her blushing face fixed on the road just in front of her shoes. Hinata really was a puzzle to Kiba. An insanely complex puzzle.

'Whatever. It was still an awesome fight. I didn't know you could kill people with a single blow' he mused as she flinched under his arm. Had he said something wrong?

'I don't like killing people. The gentle fist is extremely painful, I don't wish anyone to receive this attack' she whispered brokenly as Kiba's heart went out to the girl. She had trained with Neji so she had received the pain the gentle fist could inflict on a person as he gave her shoulder a squeeze.

'Don't worry about it Hinata. You came to our rescue and we're all alright. That's what matters.' He said as she nodded as if holding back tears as they walked the rest of the way to Konoha in silence. Once they reached the main gate Kiba headed to the hospital and Hinata went and wrote up their mission report.

It was just a simple report as she put it in an envelope. Akamaru had been dropped off at the vets along the way as Hanna had been shocked when the Hyuuga had rushed in carrying the poor pup. It had been a long afternoon as Hinata flopped onto the guestroom bed. Maybe a hot shower would be good for her. Yes a nice hot shower as she entered the bathroom.

Meanwhile downtown….

Ino had finally received her flowers as Sakura had helped finish the décor since Hinata had left on a mission the day prior and wasn't due until late evening. They giggled about one of Chouji's eating contests with Shikamaru that ended up in Shikamaru giving up after the fourth bag of potato chips as they rounded a corner to see Neji talking with Shikamaru outside of the local weaponry shop.

'That's odd, I've never seen Shika ever talk to Neji' Ino mused as Sakura nodded. It was odd that those two would talk. Lee was really the only person other than Hinata and TenTen who ever talked to the jounin.

They continued past as the two boys stopped talking and looked up to see them. They waved and smiled before turning around again to start talking in hushed voices. Now Sakura was interested, it wasn't like them to be keeping secrets like this.

'So is Hinata still at Kiba's?' Sakura heard Neji say as Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders.

'Far as I know, Kiba wanted to keep it quiet' he said as Neji nodded before he straightened.

'good afternoon ladies, I hope you find our conversation interesting' Neji said as Sakura and Ino jumped at being caught eavesdropping. They gave cheery grins and waves as both jounins looked quite irritated.

'So what about Kiba and Hinata?' Ino asked as Neji looked at Shikamaru.

'Nothing, just thinking about how irritating it would be for anyone having people stick their noses where they don't belong' Neji snapped as both girls flinched at the steel in his tone.

'We should go see if Kiba's out of hospital yet he'll probably need help walking on that leg' Shikamaru mused as Neji nodded and the two young men started walking in the direction of the hospital.

'Wow they're crabby' Sakura mused as Ino sulked. Shikamaru had never been that cold to her, ever! Something was definitely up and it involved Hinata and Kiba.

'we have to find out what is going on!' Ino stomped her foot in irritation as Sakura nodded. Something was definitely amiss here if the boys were being suspicious, maybe Naruto knew something about what was going on.

'yes but first lets get these flowers to the venue, maybe Shino knows something about what's going on his is Kiba's best friend' Sakura muttered as Ino shuddered.

'That guy is so creepy! I've never seen his face and he always has bugs crawling all over him. Its so weird!' she shuddered rubbing her arms as Sakura gave her a bored look.

'You can push people's consciousness out of their bodies and you're calling an aburame weird?' Sakura deadpanned as Ino gave her an annoyed look.

'It's just…. Weird!' she waved her arms frantically as Sakura sighed. How Ino became a jounin or even a shinobi was beyond her.

Across town at training ground seven……

'375, 376, 377, 378' lee was doing curl ups hanging from a tree branch as TenTen was throwing shuriken at a target from 500m away with deadly accuracy as Naruto and Shino walked into the training ground.

'Hey Lee!' Naruto waved as the ever green spandex wearing man leapt from his spot to go talk to his hokage.

'Hokage-sama what brings you out on this glorious youthful day blessed with sunshine?' Lee asked as Naruto blinked still trying to understand all of the flowery words that always came out of Lee's mouth.

'We're looking for Neji, have you seen him?' Shino asked as lee blinked.

'Sadly, I have not seen my youthful teammate! He has been very preoccupied with youthful missions as of late!' Lee announced as TenTen listened in. Naruto and the aburame looking for Neji that was odd.

'Oh well if you see Neji can you tell him that Kiba's in the hospital and he wants to let Hinata know that he's not going to be back until quite late' Naruto said quietly as TenTen had to read his lips to catch most of it. Why did Naruto want to tell Neji that Kiba was in the hospital. She thought Neji and Kiba hated one another and wasn't very fond of Naruto or Lee either. How odd.

'Well see you later Lee!' Naruto waved as the duo left.

'hun, how strange' lee mused before going back to his training. TenTen was still confused as she packed up her weapons, maybe Sakura would know what's going on as she waved goodbye to Lee and went to find Sakura.

Back at Kiba's….

Hinata sighed as she sunk lower into the tub. She had brought her report to the missions office and gone shopping for some basic necessities before returning to Kiba's for a nice hot bath.

How she hated killing people. That woman's bones snapping upon the sharp impact as she drew her last breath, the gurgling as that lanky ninja drown in his own blood. She shuddered and sunk lower in the bath water. No matter how much she tried she never felt clean after killing people. She scrubbed her body once again, this had been the eighth time since she had climbed into the tub that she had tried to remove the nasty feeling that killing always left on her skin.

But she had saved Kiba and Akamaru. The thought cased her mood to brighten immensely. She had beaten three rogue wave ninja by herself without a scratch. Kiba had faired worse but still she had come to their rescue even if it had only been a simple mission. Maybe, just maybe she wasn't completely useless after all. The thought made a small bloom of hope open in her chest as she hummed slightly to herself and washed the conditioner out of her hair.

Kiba would be home soon, it was getting late anyway. It had been a miracle, now that she thought about it, that she hadn't seen any of her friends between the missions office and the pharmacy. She really didn't think she could handle any of their probing questions as she noticed her water had turned cold. She was just about to get out when she heard Kiba come home. She looked at the little alarm clock beside the sink, odd she hadn't expected the hospital to let him out so early.

'Hey Hinata you here?' Kiba called sharply coming down the hall. Hinata panicked as she grabbed for her towel, slipped and ended up crashing back into the tub with a sickening crunch as she knocked every single bottle off of the shelf and onto the floor. At the same moment the door flew open and a worried looking Kiba ran in. Hinata blinked as Kiba tried to stop his momentum on the wet tiled floor. This only accomplished the wounded ninja to loose his footing and crash face first into the tub on top of Hinata.

Hinata went crimson as Kiba mimicked her and managed to lift himself slightly so he didn't crush her as he looked up now covered in bubbles. If Hinata hadn't been so utterly mortified she would've laughed as Kiba's bubble mustache as he immediately gave an apologetic grin.

This was definitely awkward.

'Uh, are you okay?' Kiba asked trying to keep his eyes on Hinata's spectacularly crimson face as she gave a jerky nod. He gave her an apologetic grin as he then tried to climb out of the lukewarm bathwater as his hand made contact with the rim of the tub and slipped causing him to flail and twist depositing him into the tub with Hinata who at this point had achieved the shade an average fire truck would be.

'Kiba!' she tried to grab him and his head smacked off of the rim. He grunted as Hinata pushed his shoulders back so that he was resting with his back against the far side of the tub near the spout as his head swam. 'a-a-are y-you al-al-al-alright?' she managed to get out as he gave a nod and closed his eyes.

'Maybe its best if you get out first' he said keeping his head tilted to look t the ceiling with his eyes closed. His own face was now the same colour as his tattoos as he tried his best to hide his mortification of what had just happened. Hinata moved quickly as she climbed out of the tub and wrapped a big towel around herself. Kiba still kept his eyes closed and faced the ceiling. At that moment he was cursing his own irrational stupidity. Honestly Kurenai had been right it was his impulsive actions that were going to kill him and it wasn't going to be on a mission. Hinata was surely going to be the death of him, he didn't mind that though oddly. If Hinata killed him at least he knew that she was a decent person.

That smack to the head must've been harder than he expected as he heard Hinata clear her throat delicately as he opened his eyes and looked at her. She was wrapped in a massive towel as she held out a hand to him. He smiled and took it and climbed out of the tub.

'Sorry about that Hinata, the crash startled me. I guess I'm still wound up from that mission' he apologized as she smiled.

'i-its n-no problem r-really Kiba' she half whispered before bowing slightly and turning to go to the guest room, correction, her room. He watched her go as he shook his head and grabbed a towel to clean up the mess he and Hinata had caused as he leant against the tub. He had had one of the strangest afternoons after Neji and Shikamaru coming to talk with him about what was going on between him and Hinata and Naruto and Shino tracking him down to tell him that they had told Lee to drop by and mention to Hinata how late he was going to be back at the apartment.

What a weird day. He shook his head feeling the bruise already forming as he deposited the towels into the laundry room before starting on supper. He really wasn't up for anything strenuous as he tossed together some items for a stew as he set the beef to simmer. Akamaru woofed as Kiba fed him and crashed on the couch and flipped thought the channels.

Hinata was her own person, he wasn't going to constantly harp on her even though he wanted to desperately wanted to just go and make sure he hadn't hurt her with the bathroom stunt. Hinata had always been so fragile. She didn't bruise easily but when she took damage it was always quite severe and wouldn't appear until a couple hours later where the bruises would be incredibly visible and painful.

He winced as he brushed the lump on his forehead. That wasn't going to go down for awhile as he got up and put an icepack on the throbbing lump as he crashed back onto the couch. Maybe he should worry more over himself and not his beautiful roommate as he sighed and pictured the arctic.

Now back to the real problem at hand, how in the seven hells was he going to help Hinata? He hoped that the last mission had given her some confidence but Akamaru's suggestion was difficult at best. It was getting increasingly difficult for him to keep his hands to himself and sooner or later he'd do something that would scare her.

He growled as he heard Hinata's soft footsteps and immediately went silent as Akamaru deftly turned on the TV.

Hinata had heard Kiba's irritated growl and flinched. Was he mad at her? She really felt bad about him hitting his head in the tub maybe she should make tea? She wandered over to the kitchen and set about making some supper. Oddly enough Kiba's kitchen was arranged exactly as his mothers had been as she easily found everything from memory.

The inuzuka's were a very close family and she wondered when Tsume and Hanna would drop by to check on the young man. That would be an awkward meeting.

'HEY KIBA!' the door slammed open as Naruto burst into the room followed more sedately by Shino, Chouji and Shikamaru. She blinked and sighed and put more ingredients into the stew that Kiba has started as she chopped potatoes to be put into the already boiling water.

'hey Hinata!' Naruto bounced over and clasped her into a warm hug as she blushed. Naruto, how she had wanted him to always do this or just love her like she had loved him. The though depressed her as she sighed and gave a warm smile anyway.

'E-e-evening N-n-naruto, h-how w-was w-w-work?' She stammered and cursed herself. She hated her stutter, mostly she could function normally around Kiba and Shino but anyone else she just reverted back to shy timid Hinata.

'Eh, boring. I can never seen to get over how much paperwork comes with the job' he grinned and swung past her to the fridge. That's why they were here, booze party. Naruto laughed and tossed some of the bottled malt to Shikamaru and Kiba. Shino didn't drink and honestly she didn't know if Chouji did or not as Shino turned on the ps2.

'Hey Hinata, you saved Kiba and Akamaru from those wave ninja didn't you?' Shikamaru drawled as everyone turned to look at her in amazement. She blushed furiously and looked back at the potatoes.

;yes she did, finished them off in under 30 seconds stone dead' Kiba crowed as Hinata felt her face further redden. Kiba's praise had always made her feel funny like little butterflies were let loose in her stomach as a small smile came to her face.

'wow Hinata, I don't think even Kakashi-sensei has done that before' Naruto breathed. She knew he was exaggerating, Kakashi was one of the best ninja in the world three wave chounin would've been easy for him as she smiled.

't-t-thank y-you' she stuttered keeping her head down as she put the potatoes into the boiling water. The evening passed simply the boys having fun playing DDR, Kiba had harassed Hinata until she tried it with him. He could play the game in circles around her but she still had fun. It had been a long time since she had just relaxed and had fun. Everyone was always so stoic and proper at the Hyuuga compound things like videogames and 'fun' activities simply did not exist. It was thought to be childish and had been promptly removed from Hinata's life at a very early age.

She was beginning to like living with Kiba as the young man laughed and playfully gave her a shove to mess up her footing.

'no fair Kiba!' Naruto whined as Hinata giggled and in a very un-Hinata like move hip checked Kiba as the Inuzuka flailed and fell catching her arm and pulling her down with him. They landed with Hinata on Kiba's chest as the room erupted in laughter. Hinata blushed crimson as Kiba grinned, the alcohol was definitely impairing his judgement as he smiled warmly at her.

'Hinata if your face gets any redder you'll explode' Shino teased as Hinata did blush more and quickly climbed off Kiba. Those emotions were back in his eyes. That same deep emotion that made him look almost drugged as Kiba lay on the floor panting for a moment.

'ow' he muttered before sitting up and putting a hand to the bump he had received earlier.

'Wow where did you get that?' Chouji asked as Kiba blushed as did Hinata as Shikamaru and Shino shared an interested look.

'h-h-he f-f-fell, i-i-in t-th-the shower!' Hinata bit out as she retreated to the safety of the little kitchen. The other males all shared a sly look as Kiba glared at them.

'nothing like that you assholes I did slip and hit my head off of the rim of the tub' he grit out as Naruto rolled his eye and took another swig of his beer.

'Riiiiiiiiiiiiight, you're living in a house with a beautiful kunoichi. I believe you that you didn't try to boink her' Naruto laced his words with sarcasm as Kiba grinned and tackled Naruto from his position on the ground.

'Take. That. back.' Kiba growled as he pulled Naruto's arm painfully behind his back. Naruto gasped in pain as Kiba continued. He was in a red haze he was not about to let this asshole destroy everything he had set in mind to try to help Hinata.

'That was uncalled for Naruto' Shino and Chouji said at the same time as Shikamaru nodded. Naruto grit his teeth as Kiba continued to force his arm.

'I… take it back!' he gasped as Kiba let him go and stood up.

'Kiba?' Hinata's quiet voice asked as he turned to see the shy girl holding up the bowls of food. She looked incredibly sad as he felt his chest clinch. Fucking Naruto, he was going to beat his ass no matter the fact that he was hokage. Hinata gave a wan smile and handed over the food before she retreated to her room as Kiba sighed and glared at the blonde before going after Hinata.

'you just made a powerful enemy' he heard Shino say to Naruto as he disappeared around the corner of the hall. He could hear Hinata inside as she moved around as he knocked gently on the frame.

'hey Hinata, its just me' he muttered as he heard a shuffle before the door opened and Hinata looked at him. She was crying, she hated crying she had always been taught that crying was for the weak but the comment Naruto had said cut deep.

He had insinuated that she was Kiba's little whore, a friend to sleep with because they were living together. It hurt, especially coming from him of all people.

'Hinata…' he muttered stepping into the room and closed the door gently behind him. Hinata sniffled and looked at the ground. Hinata was a proud person and it would kill her eventually as he sighed and gently rested his hands on her shoulders.

'is that all I am?' Hinata's voice was so quiet even Kiba had a hard time hearing her as his chest seemed to freeze. 'is that what everyone thinks of me…. That I'm a slut?' she whimpered as Kiba could smell her distress and tears roll off of her. A surge of anger and protectiveness washed over him as he lifted Hinata's chin to look at him. Her eyes were pink from crying as he looked at her seriously.

'You are not a slut, whore or any other derogatory terms that that fucktard Naruto called you. Don't listen to that moron, everyone out there knows we didn't sleep together Hinata and you know I would never…' he trailed off suddenly lost in her gaze. Hinata's eyes had always been so large and captivating to him it was always hard to focus when she looked at him. She looked at the hardwood once again as Kiba sighed and pulled her into a tight hug. He felt her stiffen before she relaxed against him and pretty much molded to fit to him as she sobbed. He rubbed her back gently as she soaked his shirt. He could hear the others talking about what was going on and by the sound of it Shino and Shikamaru were chewing out Naruto for his comment.

After a while she went limp against him as he gently supported her. She had exhausted herself crying it seemed as he looked down at her. She wasn't asleep but it seemed like she had simply given up.

'why is it so hard Kiba?' she muttered miserably as he blinked and moved to sit them on her bed.

'Life for ninja are never forgiving Hinata. But you have to let this go, you're your own person now.' He said as she growled and seemed to become utterly irrational as she glared up at him.

'That's the problem I don't know who I am!' she roared as he froze as she suddenly looked miserable again. 'I don't know…after Hiashi threw me out, I don't know. I'm not a Hyuuga, I'm a failure as a kunoichi and I'm mooching off of my best friend' she sighed and just lay against his chest. Hinata's confession was hard on Kiba, he had known that the basis was her lack of confidence but this really was a dilemma as he sighed. At least Hinata knew how much he sucked with words.

'Well… you saved Akamaru and me today, that means you're not a failure as a kunoichi, I had to scream at you to stay so you're not mooching plus you accomplished a mission so you have money to pay for half the rent ….' He trailed off as she looked at him with large sorrowful eyes that were still rimmed pick as more tears wept out from under them.

'I still don't know who I am' she whispered as Kiba sighed.

'You could become an Inuzuka if you want' he regretted the words as soon as they were out of his mouth. DAMMIT KIBA!!! He mentally smacked himself as Hinata's eyes went wide and she froze. 'wait… I mean… fuck' he buried his face in his hands. Oh boy he had screwed up big time with this one.

Hinata pulled away from him as she moved to the far side of the bed. She was scared because this was not the type of thing Kiba would usually say. Things were changing much too fast for her liking as she instantly though back on why Kiba would say that. She had known for a long time that Kiba had thought of her as more than a friend but she had never really taken notice of it until now. Kiba was so kind, so gentle around her and always tried to be as refined as Kiba could be. He was always a little coarse around the edges but she adored that about the young man.

Everything was gone of Hinata's old life. Her title, her home, everything she was lead to believe except for Kiba. Kiba was like a rock in her life, everything seemed to change and shift but Kiba was still Kiba no matter what seemed to happen he was always there with a grin and a hug or a witty comment. She made up her mind then and there as she gently reached out and touched Kiba's arms. He still had his hands covering his face as he jumped at her feather light touch.

'Kiba listen, I –I think that's… too much of a leap for me now but….c-c-can we s-start..s-s-s-slowly' she whispered the last part as Kiba jerked his head up to stare at her in utter astonishment. Hinata had just said that she would be his girlfriend? Well, in a round about way but still!..... Was he going crazy?

'Kiba?' she asked again. It wasn't like Kiba to freeze up as she felt him breath a deep sigh.

'Do you mean that Hinata?' Kiba asked quietly as she fixed him with a knowing look. For being so cocky and arrogant Kiba was actually really self conscious. After being teased about smelling like a dog as a preteen he was always insanely clean. It was so odd but Hinata knew that Kiba really was a lonely person. He had his own little fan club of village girls, he was famous for his six pack and they always gushed over how toned and rugged he was. It irked Hinata and she had always wanted to march over and slap them for being so inconsiderate.

She gave a gentle smile and touched his cheek. When had she become so bold? Maybe after the final slap that Naruto had given her that evening. She knew that Naruto just wasn't the same. He was in love with Sakura and couldn't see beyond that. She had been holding onto that issue for too long.

Now the old Hinata was gone, the lost lonely little Hyuuga was gone and in her place stood a blank canvas. Hinata, that was her name but now she had to redefine who she was, what she stood for. She would be strong and someone worthy not only for herself but for Kiba. A few small pieces of her shattered heart seemed to fill back in as she smiled at the warm feeling

'Yes, I do' she whispered as Kiba broke out into a wide grin and he grabbed her in a warm hug. She laughed as he pitched them backward so she was lying on his chest. The others had left seeing that Kiba was not returning anytime soon as he gently reached up and kissed her forehead. Start slowly Kiba reminded himself, her really didn't want to scare her after all that had happened. The sensation made Hinata's scalp tingle as she smiled and lay content on his chest.

Kiba was euphoric. Hinata had said that she would be his girlfriend. His mood soared above the clouds as he sighed and ran a hand through her hair. Little Hinata. She wasn't so little anymore as she had taken down three large rogue wave ninja by herself, survived living in a tent in one of Konoha's worst storms of the century, came back from nearly dying of hypothermia and had managed to start to pick herself up out of the dirt once again.

'Hinata you truly do amaze me' he whispered and kissed her cheek as she cocked her head to the side her cheeks ablaze as the affectionate gesture.

'W-how do I am-m-maze you k-kiba? She asked in all serenity as he chuckled at her confused frown and more than adorable blush.

'No matter how many times you fall you always manage to get back up. You're an amazing person to be able to do that Hinata. Most people would've just given up after being disowned' he muttered sadly as Hinata lay her head back on his hard chest. She cold hear his heart beating as it made her feel drowsy and relaxed.

'I wouldn't say that Kiba, I've had a lot of help from you' she whispered as Kiba hugged her tightly against him. Hinata knew that Kiba never wanted to see her in pain or hurt at all. It was one of his qualities that she loved, he was so unbearably loyal too.

Soon she hear his slight snores as she realized he had fallen asleep. She smiled and lay beside him her head still on his chest as she threw a blanket over themselves. He really was a good guy, he would try to keep things simple for her sake. She couldn't imagine what Kiba must've done with other girls. Her cheeks burst into colour again as she snuggled into the blankets. Kiba snored as she giggled, he really needed rest from their mission as she soon too drifted off to sleep.


End file.
